KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An RBI double from a veteran hitter in an 8-4 loss to the Royals isn’t something you celebrate, but the Yankees are searching for the first sign that Carlos Beltran’s right elbow won’t interfere with his effort to inject their struggling lineup with juice.
“It was nice to see him have a big hit there,’’ manager Joe Girardi said of Beltran’s double to deep left that scored Derek Jeter with the first of three runs in the sixth inning that tied the score, 3-3. “It’s important, we need for him to get going. He is a big part of the offense.’’
In the three games back from a stint on the disabled list with a bone spur, Beltran is 1-for-11 (.091), has struck out four times and is 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
Considering Beltran was out from May 15 to June 5 and played in three extended spring training games before rejoining the Yankees, the rust isn’t unexpected.
“It’s always good to do something to help the team, unfortunately we didn’t win this one,’’ said Beltran, who has been the designated hitter in all three games and doesn’t know when he will test the elbow by throwing.
“Right now we aren’t developing any plans,’’ Beltran said about throwing.
“I don’t have a date on that,’’ Girardi said when asked if he knew when Beltran could throw. “We are trying to see how this goes starting out. At some point we will probably get to the point where we will try it but we have not put a date on that yet.”
During an eighth inning at-bat, Jeter was serenaded by the crowd with a chant of “Der-ek Jet-er, Der-ek Jet-er.’’
Jeter has two more games remaining at Kauffman Stadium and will be honored by the Royals before Monday night’s game. Jeter went 1-for-4 and has four hits in his last 26 at-bats (.154).
Jacoby Ellsbury’s first-inning single extended his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest by a Yankee this season. Ellsbury finished 2-for-4 and is batting .396 (19-for-48) during the streak.
With the Royals starting left-hander Danny Duffy Saturday night, Girardi went back to Alfonso Soriano in right field.
Since the right-handed hitting Soriano has struggled mightily against righties lately the manager has decided to play Ichiro Suzuki against the lefties and Soriano versus the righties.
It’s a bit of a gamble since streaky hitters like Soriano usually get going because they are playing every day. But Soriano’s recent woes at the plate has pushed Girardi toward an awkward platoon since Soriano and Ichiro are veterans used to playing every day.
Soriano didn’t help himself by going 0-for-3 and striking out twice. Ichiro hit for Soriano in the ninth and singled.
Because the Royals are scheduled to start righty James Shields on Sunday, Girardi likely will go back to Ichiro in right.
Soriano hasn’t homered in 44 at-bats and has hit one round-tripper ball in his last 87 at-bats.
“I started the season 0-for-20, got comfortable and lost it again,’’ Soriano said. “It’s a game where there are a lot of up and downs.’’
When Shawn Kelley went down with a strained lower back problem in the first week of May, he was Girardi’s eighth-inning reliever in front of David Robertson.
In Kelley’s absence, Adam Warren and Dellin Betances have pitched extremely well. With Kelley pitching two-thirds of an inning for Double-A Trenton Saturday night and on the cusp of rejoining the Yankees, will he get the eighth-inning gig?
“I’ll have to see,’’ Girardi said. “The two guys we have right now are pretty interchangeable.’’
Had Beltran and Mark Teixeira been injured more seriously, the Yankees might have had more interest in Kendrys Morales, the free-agent first baseman/DH who signed a one-year deal Saturday with the Twins. Reports had the money in the $10 million neighborhood.
“We hadn’t thought Tex’s injury was going to keep him out a long period of time and we were pretty confident we were going to get Carlos back,’’ Girardi said.
Betances’ bid to be part of the AL All-Star bullpen continued Friday night when he struck out two of the four batters he faced. Betances hit 99 mph striking out Lorenzo Cain to start the eighth and whiffed Mike Moustakas with an 84-mph breaking ball.
Of the 108 outs recorded by the New York City native, 61 have come via strikeout, including 45 of his last 76.
When Jeremy Guthrie hit Teixeira in the back with a pitch Friday night, it was the fifth time including spring training the right-hander has drilled the Yankees first baseman.
“I have gotten some hits off him on pitches away,’’ Teixeira said. “He tries to come in. He isn’t trying to hit me on purpose.’’
Girardi has challenged 14 calls, with 10 overturned.
Ricky Negron, the son of long-time Yankees employee Ray Negron, was selected by the Padres in the 39th round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft on Saturday. Negron is playing second base for Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College.