Johnny Damon couldn’t talk his way into yesterday’s lineup, even as he made it clear to manager Joe Girardi that he’s ready for a return, as the DH.
“There is nothing more I need to do,” Damon said before the Yankees’ 2-1 victory over the Athletics.
Damon remains on the disabled list, hopeful he’ll be activated for tonight’s game against Minnesota, but Girardi also said the wait could be longer.
“We believe we’re going to get him back some time this week,” Girardi said. “Thursday is an off day for us. If he was going to come back for the Boston series, he could maybe do [a rehab appearance] on Thursday.”
Damon, who has been sidelined with a left shoulder sprain, made soft tosses before yesterday’s game and indicated he’s probably a week away from playing the outfield.
“I’m going to feel it probably until the offseason,” Damon said. “But it’s not a situation where it’s going to get worse.”
Girardi’s reluctance to activate a defensively unavailable Damon could be because the team doesn’t want to demote Justin Christian, the lone backup outfielder.
Though Girardi cited a sore right hand as the reason Jorge Posada didn’t play yesterday, it’s clear the Yankees are again concerned about Posada’s throwing. On Saturday, the Athletics stole two bases against Posada in the ninth inning, helping them take the lead against Mariano Rivera.
“It’s something we’ll manage on a daily basis,” Girardi said. “We want his arm to continue to improve and it’s just something you need to deal with and you do it day by day.”
Jose Molina threw out pinch runner Rajai Davis to end yesterday’s game, only underscoring the significance of having a strong arm behind the plate. Molina has nailed 25 of 52 (48.1 percent) of base stealers this season.
“I know if [Davis] is pinch running, he’s going to attempt to steal,” Molina said. “If somebody comes into the game to steal a base, I’m going to try to shut it down.”
Bobby Abreu said he didn’t lose Bobby Crosby‘s fly ball in the sun in the ninth inning, but was instead trying to fool the runner at first base, Ryan Sweeney, into believing he couldn’t see it.
The ball popped out and was ruled a drop and Crosby reached first, but Sweeney got nailed at second on the force after Alex Rodriguez picked up Abreu’s errant throw and flipped to Derek Jeter.
mpuma@nypost.com