May was a bad month for Yankees injuries and June got off to a bad start as well when Mark Teixeira was forced out of last night’s 3-1 win over the Orioles at Yankee Stadium with a bruised left foot.
“I thought I could play through it, I thought it would loosen up, but it stiffened up,” said Teixeira, who fouled a ball off the foot during a first-inning at-bat. “I fully expect to be in there [tonight]. The concern is fielding and running, not hitting.”
With Jorge Posada set to come off the disabled list tonight and start at designated hitter, Teixeira likely will have to prove to the Yankees he can play first in order to be in the lineup.
Teixeira’s availability likely will determine what move the Yankees make to accommodate Posada. Juan Miranda, who replaced Teixeira at first, was seen wheeling a suitcase out of the clubhouse last night. He seems to be headed to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre, but if Teixeira’s status is cloudy, the Yankees could go in another direction.
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Brett Gardner‘s sliced right thumb had nothing to do with him not being in the starting lineup last night against Orioles lefty Brian Matusz.
“I told him before [Monday’s] game that he was going to be off [last night],” manager Joe Girardi said of Gardner, who has eight hits in his past 24 at-bats (.333).
Gardner entered the game as a defensive replacement for left fielder Kevin Russo in the eighth inning. Gardner, whose streak of 33 straight starts ended, injured the thumb sliding head-first into second base on Monday when he was caught stealing for the second time in the 11-2 victory.
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Derek Jeter was in the lineup one day after being removed due to tightness in his left hamstring.
“I checked with the trainer and checked with [Jeter] and he said he felt good and he is ready to go,” Girardi said of the blistering shortstop, who is on an 11-for-20 (.550) hot streak after going 2-for-3 last night.
Nick Johnson had a cast removed from his right wrist and will start physical therapy today.
“It’s a little stiff,” said Johnson, whose cast was replaced by a wrap.
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Robinson Cano was named AL Player of the Week after hitting .565 (13 for 23) last week. Cano leads the league in hits (75) and is second in batting average (.366). Cano extended his hitting streak to 15 games with two singles in four at-bats last night.
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Girardi is not close to ready to announce what his American League All-Star pitching staff will look like on July 13 in Anaheim, but he gave a strong hint that Andy Pettitte is in the mix.
“Let’s deal with that when we get there, but if it was today I know how I would deal with it,” Girardi said of the veteran lefty.
Pettitte, who is 7-1 with a 2.48 ERA, has been an All-Star twice — in 1996 and 2001. He did not appear the first time and worked an inning the second time. At 236-136, Pettitte is the only pitcher on a 40-man MLB roster to be 100 games over .500.
Only 25 other hurlers in history are 100 games over .500. Eighteen are in the Hall of Fame. The six not eligible for the Hall are Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez and Mike Mussina.
Girardi’s coaching staff will make the trip and Angels manager Mike Scioscia likely will be on Girardi’s staff because his club his hosting the event.
Three-fourths of the Yankees’ infield is leading in the latest All-Star balloting. Jeter’s 1,005,810 votes are second in the league and tops among shortstops. Cano and Teixeira lead at second base and first base, respectively. Alex Rodriguez trails Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria by 282,979 at third and Posada (427,310) is second to Joe Mauer, the AL’s leading vote-getter with 1,138,286, among catchers. Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher and Gardner are running sixth, seventh and eighth among outfielders, respectively.