BALTIMORE — Derek Jeter’s right knee is in better shape than Alex Rodriguez’s left thumb.
Joe Girardi said he doesn’t know if Rodriguez will be available for the Yankees’ upcoming three-game series against the Red Sox that opens tonight in Boston, but the manager was more positive about having the shortstop.
“He is day-to-day; we are hoping he will be able to play [tonight],” Girardi said of Jeter, who fouled a ball off his knee in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader and was scratched from the second tilt. “I could use him in an emergency [last night].”
After last night’s 3-2 win over the Orioles, Jeter was optimistic he will play tonight.
“I hope so, that’s the plan,” said Jeter, who received a full day of treatment, watched some of the game from the dugout and went inside for additional treatment in the late innings. “I made a lot of progress since [Sunday night] and hopefully I make more.”
Jeter left the clubhouse Sunday night with a stiff limp caused in part by a tight wrap and required a ride in a cart to get to the team bus.
“He was walking around fine [yesterday],” Girardi said. “He is walking a lot better than I anticipated, pretty good.”
Girardi used Eduardo Nunez at short and put the ice-cold Brett Gardner (4-for-40) in the leadoff spot against Orioles right-hander Alfredo Simon.
Both Gardner and Nunez went 0-for-3.
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J.J. Hardy‘s eighth-inning homer was the first homer given up by David Robertson this year. It was also the first road run given up by Robertson.
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Curtis Granderson scored his 122nd run, which ties a career high.
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A.J. Burnett tinkered with his delivery during yesterday’s bullpen session. In order to keep his arm straight coming forward, he experimented with keeping his hands at the mid-chest level and not swinging them backward.
“I want to see if it helps me,” said Burnett, who faces the Red Sox Thursday night in Boston. “Maybe it will give me more control.”
After the bullpen session, Burnett said, “It was good in the stretch; the windup is going to take work.”
With Girardi going from six to five starters after Thursday night’s game, Burnett is a candidate to be sent to the bullpen based on his terrible August. He is 1-2 with a 12.23 ERA in five starts and has given up 44 hits in 22 innings.
Even a $16.5 million salary or being owed $33 million across the next two seasons might not be enough to keep Burnett in the rotation.
“By no means am I worried about it,” said Burnett, who gave up nine runs and nine hits in five innings against the Orioles in a 12-5 loss Friday night. “I know what I can do when I am on.”
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The Yankees sent right-handed reliever Hector Noesi to Scranton / Wilkes-Barre to make room for Freddy Garcia to come off the DL last night.
Noesi isn’t eligible to return for 10 days or when SWB season ends. Since Girardi is using a six-man rotation through Thursday night he was down to a six-man bullpen last night.
“It is a little bit,” Girardi said of six relievers being a concern. “Especially knowing how the games can get [in Boston].”
Girardi was mum on how many players will be promoted Thursday when the rosters expand to 25. Catcher Jesus Montero, who isn’t on the 40-man roster, is expected at some point.
With injuries to Rodriguez and Jeter an infielder might be needed. Ramiro Pena is working out in Tampa after an appendectomy but not playing in minor league games yet.
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Lefty relievers Pedro Feliciano and Damaso Marte came down with soreness in their arms after recent workouts and neither is expected to be of help this year.
If Feliciano opts for off-season surgery to repair a rotator cuff strain, Girardi said it would cost him next year and possibly be career-ending. Feliciano signed a two-year deal for $8 million last winter and hasn’t appeared in a game.
Marte underwent labrum surgery after last year and hasn’t pitched this season.