TAMPA A.J. Burnett credited his Bruce Lee tattoo for protecting him last night.
John McDonald hit a second-inning line drive that nailed Burnett in the left triceps, but the right-hander escaped injury and ended the night with his third straight Grapefruit League win.
“It’s a good thing I have Bruce Lee,” said Burnett, referring to the tattoo on his arm where the ball hit.
Burnett’s final line in the Yankees’ 7-4 victory over Toronto included 3 1/3 innings in which he allowed one earned run on three hits with three walks. Burnett allowed his first earned run of the spring.
“I needed that one. I needed one where I needed to work,” said Burnett, whose next scheduled appearance is Tuesday against the Red Sox.
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Nick Swisher left last night’s game with a bruised left calf, the result of a foul ball in the second inning. He was scratched from making today’s 2½-hour bus ride to Fort Myers, where a Yankees’ split squad faces the Twins.
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Robinson Cano made several hard throws from second base during infield practice yesterday, and Joe Girardi later said Cano would play second base today in Fort Myers.
Cano returned from the World Baseball Classic with tightness in his right shoulder and had spent the last week rehabbing and making soft tosses.
“The pain is gone,” Cano said.
Another Yankee who returned from the WBC with a sore shoulder, Damaso Marte, is expected to work in relief this weekend. Girardi anticipates using the lefty Sunday against the Rays.
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If you blinked, you missed Mariano Rivera‘s second relief outing this spring. He entered in the sixth inning and needed only five pitches to retire the side in order.
Because of the quick work, Rivera lobbied to pitch the seventh. He instead settled for throwing 10 more pitches in the bullpen.
“The whole process is good, but you’d like to throw a little bit more,” said Rivera, who is expected to work again tomorrow against the Tigers.
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Joba Chamberlain has had his arraignment on a drunken-driving charge rescheduled a third time.
Because Chamberlain could not appear in a Nebraska court yesterday, the judge reset the hearing for March 31. With AP