Mark Teixeira’s battle with severely inflamed bronchial airways is going about as well as his battle to get out of a season-long slump.
The Yankees first baseman went 1-for-4 in yesterday’s 6-2 loss to the Mariners and struck out with the bases loaded and two out in the eighth inning, leaving the field to boos, in what was a 4-2 game at the time.
And it was clear from his postgame coughing fit that the prednisone he has been taking since seeing a chest specialist Wednesday hasn’t worked.
“It’s frustrating,” Teixeira said. “It was supposed to take three or four days and it’s been five. I’m going to have to keep fighting through it.”
Teixeira is batting .223 with a .275 on-base percentage and has not been able to pinpoint a problem with his swing.
“Right now, I’m just battling,” Teixeira said. “I’m waiting for a hot streak and to get better. I’m swinging the bat OK, but I don’t have a lot of power right now. I’d like to be hitting the ball with a little more authority.”
Manager Joe Girardi said he has no plans to move Teixeira out of the five-spot.
“I think you can make too much of a certain number of at-bats and you can start moving guys around all the time,” Girardi said of Teixeira, whose 17 RBIs are the fourth most on the team. “[It’s not good when] Guys come to the ballpark and don’t know where they’re hitting.”
* Derek Jeter’s eighth-inning single was the 3,142nd hit of his career, which moved him past Tony Gwynn and tied Robin Yount for 16th on the all-time list.
“You mention those guys, two of the best players to ever play the game, it’s humbling,” Jeter said after going 1-for-4. “But I wasn’t thinking about it much.”
To make room on the roster for Andy Pettitte, the Yankees optioned Cody Eppley to Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre. Mariano Rivera was transferred to the 60-day disabled list to open up a spot on the 40-man roster for Pettitte. … The Yankees fell to 0-7 in games in which they didn’t hit a home run.
* The Yankees honored former Marine Cpl. Megan Leavey before yesterday’s game, along with her bomb-sniffing German Shepherd, who was her combat partner during two tours of duty in Iraq. Both were wounded by a roadside bomb in 2006 and she later adopted the dog, named Sgt. Rex. Leavey was also presented with a new Purple Heart yesterday after her original one was stolen.