Mark Teixeira’s absence from the Yankees lineup proved to be a short one. The first baseman was back in the cleanup spot last night after missing just two games with an inflamed left wrist that required a cortisone shot.
Teixeira reported no problems after going 1-for-4 in the Yankees’ 6-3 victory over the Mariners.
“I felt pretty good,” he said. “I didn’t expect it to be to a big issue. It was just a little soreness.”
Manager Joe Girardi didn’t make out his lineup until after Teixeira took grounders at first and took batting practice. Teixeira originally hurt his wrist swinging right-handed against the Red Sox on Sunday and then aggravated the injury diving for a ball on Monday.
“I was just rusty,” Teixeira said. “I didn’t move my hand for two or three days.”
He was able to take swings from both sides of the plate and didn’t have any difficulty with twisting the wrist to field third baseman Eric Chavez’s one-hop throw.
Girardi will check with Teixeira the rest of the weekend.
* Chavez left the game after aggravating his sore right ankle in the eighth, the same ankle he hurt against the Red Sox.
“I put some ice on it and will test it [today],” Chavez said. “It’s a little sore. I don’t foresee anything serious.”
* Curtis Granderson hit leadoff last night in front of Derek Jeter, with Girardi saying he didn’t want to stack his lefties against the Mariners right-handed starter Kevin Millwood. And the manager didn’t rule out using Granderson there in the future.
“Sometimes,” Girardi said. “It depends how many lefties they have in the bullpen.”
* After spending the first 11-plus seasons of his Hall of Fame career in Seattle, Ichiro Suzuki said the reaction he got after hitting his first homer as a Yankee on Monday was unique.
“I don’t know whether it was because it was my first home run as a Yankee or 100th home run [of my career], but I don’t know if I ever received an ovation from the fans that loud,” Ichiro said before extending his hitting streak to 10 games since joining his new team. .“It’s maybe the first time in my career I received an ovation that big.”
* Alex Rodriguez was back at the Stadium yesterday, but is still limited in what he can do.
“He’s just working out,” Girardi said of the third baseman, who has a splint on his left hand after being hit by a Felix Hernandez pitch on July 24 in Seattle. “He’s trying to work on his legs. He’ll throw. He can’t use his left hand.”
* Dewayne Wise agreed to a minor league deal with the White Sox yesterday after the Yankees released the outfielder earlier this week. … One of the Yankees’ top prospects, outfielder Mason Williams, will be out for the season due to a torn left (non-throwing) labrum that requires surgery. The 20-year-old was recently promoted from Class-A Charleston to high-A Tampa. The Yankees expect him to be ready in time for spring training.