TORONTO — Another one bites the turf.
After playing Friday night on the unforgiving Rogers Centre turf, Kevin Youkilis’ back tightened up. It was better Saturday, when Youkilis was in the lineup and delivered a key two-run single in a 5-3 Yankees win.
Nevertheless, Lyle Overbay replaced Youkilis at first base in the sixth inning.
“It got to the point where I didn’t want to make it worse,’’ Youkilis said. “It should be good. I got treatment and it loosened up. I feel good and ready to go.”
With six straight games on turf, manager Joe Girardi planned on resting players. The tightness makes Youkilis a candidate to sit Sunday.
“My guess is he is not a player [today],’’ said Girardi, whose club plays three games on Tropicana Field’s artificial turf starting Monday.
* Girardi said Francisco Cervelli swinging a hot bat was not the main reason for catching Cervelli for a day game yesterday after he caught a dozen innings Thursday night and played Friday night.
“[Chris] Stewart will catch [Sunday],’’ Girardi said. “Kind of keeping him with the same guys. [Hiroki] Kuroda worked with [Cervelli] the last time. Cervy is playing extremely well, so …”
Girardi was referring to Kuroda’s complete-game shutout of the Orioles a week ago today that came with Cervelli behind the plate.
Stewart has caught Ivan Nova, today’s starter, in both outings this year.
Though Stewart is strong defensively, Cervelli clearly has been the better hitter in the early part of the season. He is batting .310 (13-for-42) with two homers and seven RBIs in 13 games after an 1-for-5 that included a rally-fueling single in the 11th inning.
Much has been made of Cervelli’s improved defense — especially throwing — but what about the pitch calling?
“I have been very pleased with what he has done,” Girardi said.
* Unlike in his previous start on April 9, Andy Pettitte came out of Friday night’s effort without a back problem.
“He feels good today, normal soreness, everything is OK,” Girardi said of Pettitte, who missed a start due to back spasms and a very conservative medical team.
Though the Yankees were confident the 40-year-old lefty’s spasms had vanished, Girardi wanted to make sure the 7 1/3-inning effort Pettitte provided Friday night in a 9-4 Yankees victory did not take a toll.
“You want to see how the back responds after the workload,’’ Girardi said.
* Chien-Ming Wang, who re-signed with the Yankees last month, made his season debut at Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, working 5 1/3 scoreless innings (six hits, no walks, three strikeouts, nine ground-ball outs) for the win over Syracuse.
* Using designated hitter Ben Francisco in the second spot against lefty Mark Buehrle was part of an effort to find left fielder Vernon Wells a consistent home in the lineup.
“I am going to try and leave Vernon in one spot,’’ said Girardi, who batted Wells fifth for the second straight game and 11th overall. Wells went 3-for-5 with a homer.
In the previous three games started by lefties, Girardi hit Wells second.
Francisco had batted fifth three times and sixth once. He is 2-for-18 (.111) on the season after going hitless in five trips.
* After not starting two of the previous three games against lefties, Ichiro Suzuki was in right field.
Ichiro started the game batting .213, but Girardi saw Ichiro’s bat showing life in the previous two games.
“I like the way Ichiro is swinging better now,’’ Girardi said. “I might get [Brennan] Boesch in there [Sunday] and the next day for a guy. Ich is swinging well, keep going.’’
Ichiro entered yesterday hitting .438 lifetime (21-for-48) against the lefty Buehrle. He went 1-for-4 and got down a crucial sacrifice bunt in the 11th.
* The Yankees released a statement about the death of newspaper mogul Al Neuharth on Friday at the age of 89.
“The passing of Al Neuharth is an enormous loss to the world of journalism and to those who were fortunate to know him personally. Over the years he was a great friend to George M. Steinbrenner and the entire Yankees organization,” the statement read.
“As the founder of USA Today, he was a visionary in his industry, transforming how millions of Americans read their news every day. More importantly, he was a champion of equality and diversity in the workplace and leaves behind his other great legacy, the Freedom Forum, which continues to advocate for free speech and democracy. The Yankees family sends its deepest condolences to his wife, Rachel, and the entire Neuharth family.”