It wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough. So Mark Teixeira, who cut up his left pinky on a play at home that forced him out of three games, returned to the Yankees’ lineup Sunday.
“[It’s] not bad. I’m happy with the way it’s feeling the last two days. Hopefully it just keeps getting better,” Teixeira said. “Once it’s healed, it will be fine.”
Teixeira gave a thumb up — pinky up? — to playing after taking batting practice and testing his ability to grip the bat and swing, which are sort of important to playing baseball. Teixeira went 1-for-4, singling to center in the seventh. He also lined to second, struck out swinging and bounced to first.
“Big lift,” Teixeira said of the mental relief batting practice afforded. “Definitely want to be back out there.”
Manager Joe Girardi said Teixeira seemed fine and having him back was a relief because “you want him in the lineup.”
Teixeira has fought an assortment of injuries this season, including strains of his right hamstring and left lat muscle, light-headedness and, of course, the pinky. But he passed Sunday’s test.
“I thought he had some good at-bats,” hitting coach Kevin Long said. “Certainly his pinky didn’t have any effect on his swing. I thought he looked good.”