Mark Teixeira sat out Wednesday’s 6-3 Yankees loss to the Rays after having his left knee drained following Tuesday’s game.
The first baseman expressed confidence he would be able to play the series opener Thursday in Minnesota after being bothered by soreness “on and off for a couple of weeks.”
The injury stems from a 2008 surgery on the knee that left Teixeira without much cartilage in the area, but he hadn’t had to have the procedure in “a few years” he said.
“It’s not a fun process,” Teixeira said. “Structurally, it’s all right.”
He blamed the two lengthy games on Monday and Tuesday for worsening the situation.
“That didn’t help, and it slowly got worse,” Teixeira said. “I’ve been putting it off.”
But with a long road trip starting Thursday, team physician Chris Ahmad thought it best to take care of it before the team left. Teixeira expressed optimism that he would be OK, but said it occasionally takes more than one draining to remove all the fluid.
“Sometimes you have to do it a couple of times in a row to get it all out of there,” Teixeira said. “Hopefully this takes care of it.”
Jacoby Ellsbury also missed Wednesday’s game because “he’s beat up and needs a day off,” according to manager Joe Girardi.
Masahiro Tanaka hadn’t lost two straight starts since June, 2010 — when he was still with Rakuten in Japan — until his last pair of outings in The Bronx.
“If you’re playing the game of baseball, you’re going to lose two consecutive games,” Tanaka said through a translator. He’ll start against the Twins’ Phil Hughes on Thursday. “What’s important right now is not looking back at those two losses but looking ahead and trying to win the next outing.”
The Yankees are desperate for a win from anyone, but the Japanese right-hander said he isn’t treating this outing any differently than his others.
“There’s absolutely no pressure on me,” Tanaka said.
Yangervis Solarte went 0-for-4 and has three hits in his last 41 at-bats. Girardi said he is concerned about the rookie.
“You worry about young kids and how they respond,” Girardi said.
Solarte said he needed to do a better job of adjusting at the plate. Hitting coach Kevin Long added the infielder looked “unsure” at the plate.
Girardi said Derek Jeter is due for a day off “soon,” but that he has liked the way Jeter has played lately.
“As long as his body feels good and I feel he’s moving around good, I’m going to keep playing him,” Girardi said. “He’s held up really well.”
The Yankees commemorated the 75th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest Man” speech, which was given on July 4, 1939.
In addition to handing out 18,000 Lou Gehrig bobbleheads, the Yankees also held a pregame ceremony and showed a video of Jeter and 30 MLB first basemen reading Gehrig’s speech. Several people suffering from ALS were also part of the on-field ceremony.