CLEVELAND — Hiroki Kuroda was hardly his sharpest yesterday, but the Yankees right-hander refused to blame his bruised right finger.
“When I was on the mound, I never thought about it,” Kuroda said through a translator after picking up his first victory of the season in an 11-6 win over the Indians at Progressive Field.
Kuroda admitted he wasn’t at his best physically after being hit on the finger by a line-drive last week in his first start of the year.
“I did not feel it,” Kuroda said with a laugh. “I was able to pitch.”
After giving up three runs in the first, Kuroda settled down and lasted 5 1/3 innings without surrendering another.
“In the first inning, I struggled a lot with my location,” Kuroda said. “Thanks to the run support I was able to regroup.”
Joe Girardi thought Kuroda was more the victim of bad luck than anything else and the manager said he wasn’t concerned in the first inning.
“He was getting ground balls,” Girardi said. “And they were finding holes.”
* In Tampa yesterday, Derek Jeter took 10 grounders on the grass in front of the infield dirt and 30 at the normal shortstop position.
His replacement, Eduardo Nunez, was not fully healthy yesterday, but he was back in the starting lineup after being hit in the right bicep by a Doug Fister pitch Friday in Detroit.
“I feel better,” Nunez said prior to going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, albeit with a sacrifice fly. “There’s still a little bit [of pain]. It’s not 100 percent yet.”
He didn’t look better, striking out twice.
Nunez was more concerned about how the injury would affect him at the plate than defensively, but told Girardi he could go making it through batting practice without complaint.
* Lefty reliever Cesar Cabral threw a simulated game and said he is scheduled to pitch in an extended spring game Friday.
* Girardi put Chris Stewart behind the plate yesterday despite the solid play of late from Francisco Cervelli.
“I’m just keeping them both involved,” Girardi said. “As I’ve said, the first month I’ll play it out. [Stewart] has had good at-bats, too.”
Stewart had another one in the fourth, when he singled to center, stole a base and scored on Brett Gardner’s single.
As much as anything else, though, Girardi liked the idea of keeping each catcher with the same pitcher.
* Andy Pettitte will look to build on his excellent first start when he takes the mound against Cleveland right-hander Carlos Carrasco. Pettitte was terrific in his season debut, allowing just one run over eight innings to the Red Sox in The Bronx.