BOSTON — By the end, the Yankees were playing with a team that was more fitting of Fort Myers in March than Fenway Park in May.
With two more regulars — Nick Johnson and Robinson Cano — lost by mid-game last night, manager Joe Girardi looked down his bench and saw just one positional reserve still available: Jorge Posada, who has a tender right calf. That moved Girardi to jokingly ask Javier Vazquez if he was indeed an infielder sometime in his youth. At least, we think it was a joke.
“My [lineup] card is getting short,” Girardi said.
That the Yankees continue to win as key players go down speaks to their depth, of both talent and character. They have a lot of skill — particularly in their rotation — and no alibis.
The rotation star last night again was Phil Hughes. He outdueled Josh Beckett, who began with perfect-game stuff before losing control in every way in what became a 10-3 Yankees victory over the Red Sox.
On the record and for background, Yankees personnel said they did not believe Beckett was throwing at their teammates on purpose, but rather that his command simply unraveled. Still the club was furious in the heat of the game over what was occurring as Beckett plunked two Yankees and sent a few others to the deck. CC Sabathia, in particular, was enraged, screaming and gesticulating form the bench. Sabathia starts today. So retaliation and, thus, fireworks could revisit The Rivalry.
But first the Yankees have to know if they have enough able bodies to actually play. The perpetually injured Nick Johnson left with soreness in his right wrist and is expected to be headed to the disabled list. Robinson Cano was the first Yankee hit by Beckett, getting drilled in his left knee, and he also was removed. With Curtis Granderson already on the disabled list and Posada unlikely to play before tomorrow night, the Yankees could be down four lefty hitters against righty Clay Buchholz today, unless Cano makes a hasty recovery.
“Yeah, I’m a little concerned,” Girardi said.
The immediate plan probably will be to summon Kevin Russo to replace Johnson on the roster and provide infield depth with Cano iffy. When Cano is 100 percent, the Yankees could call upon lefty Juan Miranda, but Miranda also is currently out at Triple-A after being hit in the elbow by a pitch.
Johnson’s loss is no surprise. He is the human HMO. His wrist and knee already had been hurting him, limiting the amount of pregame work he could do to try to break out of a slump. The fact that he has had wrist injuries in the past that have cost him significant time could mean he will be gone for a while, further triggering wonder about why the Yankees would do business with such an injury-prone component rather than try to wait out Johnny Damon.
And the Yankees already were dealing with a slew of injuries. Girardi had opened his pregame news conference by stating, “I got a lot of stuff.” That included that Mariano Rivera was available last night after being absent from three save situations earlier this week because of a sore side. Posada was rested again. Girardi said Posada could start today, but I have been told that Girardi wants to be extra careful with his catcher and is leaning toward one more day off and a start as the designated hitter tomorrow night against lefty Jon Lester. And to the anger of Andy Pettitte, Girardi announced the lefty was being skipped from his Tuesday start in Detroit, though Pettitte insisted his left elbow no longer hurt him.
So, right now, the Yankees have the tinge of both an injury ward and a can-do team.
They won their fifth straight though they played the second half of this game with Marcus Thames, Ramiro Pena, Brett Gardner, Francisco Cervelli and Randy Winn in the lineup. Hey, if you have seen the $200 million Yankees, call the police, they are missing.
“We are thin right now,” said Hughes (4-0, 1.69 ERA). “We had nobody on our bench from the fifth inning on. But you have to find a way to win.”
The Yankees are winning even as they are losing players.