BALTIMORE — Say hello to the Glow In The Dark Yankees.
Ivan Nova left last night’s game and was taken for X-rays on the right foot that suffered two injuries. He was hit by a batted ball in the third and rolled his ankle in the sixth fielding a chopper.
David Robertson will undergo tests today in New York to determine the severity of a muscular problem in the left rib cage area.
Raul Ibanez was wearing baseball stitch marks on his right elbow after getting drilled by a pitch. Clay Rapada was hit by a viral infection after facing two batters.
And a bronchial infection still lives inside Mark Teixeira, who made two big contributions. So, the 8-5 win over the Orioles at a rainy Camden Yards in front of an announced crowd of 16,492 didn’t have the Yankees dancing down Pratt Street.
“Yes, barely,’’ manager Joe Girardi said when asked if he felt like his squad survived.
But what about the immediate future?
Nova’s next start is supposed to be Saturday against the Reds at Yankee Stadium.
That is possibly in jeopardy.
“It could be,’’ Girardi said. “We will have to see. We have to be smart about it.’’
David Phelps, who posted his first major league win in relief last night, is the likely candidate to make the start if Nova can’t.
Nova, who gave up five runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings, said he felt more pain when he twisted the ankle that had a wrap on it to keep the swelling to a minimum.
While Robertson has played catch every day since telling the Yankees about the discomfort on the left side following Friday night’s game vs. Seattle, he hasn’t gone near a mound.
Last night Girardi used Rafael Soriano to record the final three outs and he posted his second save.
“I have never had this before, I don’t know what to expect,’’ Robertson said. “I feel it a little bit when I play catch. I am not 100 percent.’’
With Mariano Rivera facing ACL surgery and Robertson idle, Girardi’s pen is thin. Last night, he used five relievers who provided 3 2/3 innings of shutout relief.
Boone Logan was especially impressive, fanning all three hitters he faced.
Teixeira’s two-run homer in the seventh snapped a 5-5 tie and his one-out double off the right-field wall led to a ninth-inning run that gave Soriano a three-run cushion to close the game.
“I am trying to stay positive and hope I feel better soon,’’ said Teixeira, who has been dealing with a severely inflamed bronchial airway situation since April 12. “But tonight helps.’’
Nick Swisher’s two-run double in the fourth tied the score, 2-2, and Curtis Granderson’s 12th homer, put the Yankees ahead, 3-2, in the fifth. Three Oriole runs in the fifth erased the lead.
Orioles first baseman Chris Davis turned a sure double play into a costly error that fueled a two-run sixth that tied the score, 5-5. In Teixeira’s world, the glass is always half full. Sunday, he fanned with the bases loaded in the eighth inning of a 6-2 loss to the Mariners. Last night, despite the draining illness that produces a bothersome cough and affects his breathing, he delivered.
“Yesterday, I was the goat. Tonight, I was the hero,’’ Teixeira said. “That’s why you play every night.’’