TORONTO — Robinson Cano left Rogers Centre after the Yankees’ 11-4 win over the Blue Jays last night unsure what his status was after being hit by a pitch in the left hand in the sixth inning.
“I thought it was really serious when it first hit me, but I ended up being able to stay in the game,” Cano told The Post before leaving to have an X-ray done on the injured hand. “I’m still in a little bit of pain and I don’t know what’s going to happen with the X-ray, but hopefully it doesn’t show anything.”
If it does come back clear, the second baseman said he doesn’t believe he will have to miss any time.
“The pain is not too bad right now,” Cano said after undergoing a fluoroscope, which is a rudimentary X-ray. “If it doesn’t get worse, I’ll be able to play through it like I did here.”
With the AL East title still decidedly up for grabs after the Orioles kept pace with the Yankees by beating the Red Sox to stay one game back, Cano’s presence in the lineup is key.
That presence seemed much in doubt when a Brett Cecil first-pitch sinker plunked Cano, who leaned over in pain before being tended to by trainer Steve Donohue on his way to first base. Cano ended up scoring his second run of the game as the Yankees added four runs in the sixth to put away the game.
Cano’s presence in the Yankees’ lineup is especially valuable because Alex Rodriguez continues to struggle, and Mark Teixeira still is in Tampa, rehabbing his strained left calf.
So this would be an inopportune time to be without the second baseman, who has four straight multi-hit games after going 2-for-4.
He added a bloop single in the eighth to score Ichiro Suzuki and is now 10-for-16 over his last four games, with three doubles and three RBIs.
And Cano reported no problems from the final three innings of the win.
“I was still able to play,” Cano said.
That was a good sign for manager Joe Girardi, as well as Cano’s teammates.
“I look at Robbie and I feel like that dude’s made of steel,” Nick Swisher said. “It seems like he plays all the time, but any time you’re talking about hands, you get a little concerned. After I saw him stay in the game, definitely made me feel a lot better.”
The Yankees would feel the same way seeing Cano in the lineup again today.