As bad as the shape in which the Yankees’ rotation is now, it could have been worse.
After downplaying how hard his left ankle was hit by David DeJesus’ sharp comebacker in the second inning of Saturday’s win, Masahiro Tanaka admitted Sunday he was concerned about what effect it might have on him.
“It feels OK,” Tanaka said on Sunday through his interpreter. “When I woke up this morning, I thought there’d still be a bruise there, but there wasn’t, so I’m absolutely good.”
Following Tanaka’s outing, Brian McCann said the ball made solid contact with the pitcher’s ankle. Tanaka refused to have it looked at while he was on the mound, but on Sunday, the right-hander admitted he was relieved.
“It did hit me pretty hard,” Tanaka said. “You never know what’s going to happen on plays like that, so I’m happy it’s not something that’s going to impact me.”
Before Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Rays, Joe Girardi said: “I checked on him when he came in from the inning and then watched him doing his work today. …“He’s showed some mental toughness since he’s been here and physical toughness is part of it, too. We don’t have any concerns right now.”
Carlos Beltran admitted he didn’t get to Wil Myers’ third-inning inside-the-park homer as quickly as he should have.
“I got caught watching the play,” Beltran said of the play that saw Jacoby Ellsbury make a leaping attempt only to have the ball bounce off him and into right field. “Who can anticipate that?
It’s a tough play, man. Tough play for Jacoby, and for me, maybe, the only way I could see maybe if I would’ve [run] right away, it would’ve been a triple.”
An agitated Girardi said: “we have to take care of that.”
“I don’t think he anticipated what happened was going to happen,” Girardi said. “He didn’t read what could possibly happen there.”
River Avenue will officially become Rivera Avenue on Monday.
Mariano Rivera is expected to attend Monday’s ceremony near Yankee Stadium at 161st Street and River Avenue, where the renaming of the street to Rivera Avenue will take place at 11:30 a.m.
The City Council voted in December to change the name. Council member Maria del Carmen Arroyo of The Bronx, who helped lead campaign to honor the recently retired closer, also will be on hand.
Reliever Alfredo Aceves hurt his right leg during the fifth inning, but said it won’t keep him out.
“Come on, man, seriously?” Aceves said when asked about the injury, which was looked at for several minutes on the mound. “I threw how many pitches?”
He threw 72 in his first Yankees appearance since May 8, 2010.
Even after talking to the right-hander, Girardi was unsure exactly what the injury was.
“I really believe we’ll have something tested here and it will give us a better idea,” Girardi said.
Brendan Ryan (back) went 2-for-3 in another rehab game for Double-A Trenton on Sunday, but Girardi said they didn’t know if he would be activated Monday.
Brian McCann didn’t catch Sunday, but pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth for the final out. Murphy had hit in four straight games, going 5-for-11. … Brett Gardner (2-for-4) had five multi-hit
games on the eight-game homestand. … David Phelps will start the series opener Monday, with Hiroki Kuroda going Tuesday and Vidal Nuno on Wednesday.