MLB

Granderson: Yankee Stadium outfield still not in great shape

The Yankee Stadium outfield looks a little better than it did on the Yankees’ last homestand, but it’s still in bad shape according to the guys who patrol it each night.

The outfield was torn up during the Yuri Foreman-Miguel Cotto boxing match June 5 and still has not recovered. The grounds crew appears to have laid down some new grass while the team was on the West Coast last week, but there are still plenty of dead spots.

“It’s not necessarily better,” center fielder Curtis Granderson said. “They put some new grass out there, but it’s not everywhere. It looks like there’s a lot of seed stuff maybe. There’s a lot of green stuff out there. I don’t know what it is. Before it looked like paint. [Brett Gardner] slipped and his uniform turned bright green. I’m not sure what’s out there.”

BOX SCORE

The players have fears about what is going to happen to the field when Jay-Z and Eminem hold two concerts at the Stadium in September. The larger stage figures to do more damage than a boxing ring, and if it rains there could be an even bigger mess.

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Gardner was out of the lineup for the second straight game with a bruised right wrist. Gardner wanted to take batting practice yesterday but the trainers told him to wait until today.

Gardner said the wrist felt better and the swelling had gone down. Gardner hurt the wrist Sunday when Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw hit him with a pitch.

“I expect to be in the lineup [today],” Gardner said.

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Derek Jeter has gone 14 consecutive games without an RBI, the longest drought of his career, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

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Pitching coach Dave Eiland, who returned to the team Tuesday after a 25-day leave, worked with struggling starter A.J. Burnett in the bullpen before last night’s game on mechanical flaws he saw in Burnett while he was away.

“It was just . . . mainly getting his balance over the rubber and all his energy going toward home plate and finishing over his front side,” Eiland said.

“This is something we did last year too. It’s just a reminder and feeling it and getting everything back to where it needs to be. It’s not like it’s anything brand new. It’s just stuff we’ve worked on before. He just has to feel when he gets off of it and correct it himself.”

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Chad Gaudin pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief last night, giving up two runs. He is a candidate to be sent packing if the Yankees decide to call up Dustin Moseley from Triple-A. Moseley can opt to become a free agent today if he’s not on the big-league roster.

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Marcus Thames (right hamstring) went 1-for-4 for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in his first game of a minor league rehabilitation assignment. . . . Sergio Mitre (left oblique) could pitch in a rehab game later this week. . . . The Rays designated Hank Blalock for assignment. If he clears waivers, he would be a potential pick-up for the Yankees to bolster their bench.

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Alex Rodriguez joined Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center President and CEO Miguel A. Fuentes, Jr., as well as board members, staff and pediatric patients at a ceremony to dedicate a new children’s outpatient center named in his honor.

Rodriguez contributed $250,000 to help fund construction and completion of the outpatient center, which offers a child-friendly environment ideal for young patients and their families.

“I am proud to support the children’s outpatient facility and Bronx-Lebanon’s efforts to care for the children of the Bronx community,” Rodriguez said.

— Additional reporting
by Mark Hale