I'd love to agree with ya T Hawk as I hate the Yanks, but today's lineup isn't Torre's fault. From today's NY Newsday:
First Gary Sheffield, then Derek Jeter, and almost Jorge Posada.
The Yankees not only lost to the Mets yesterday, 7-1, they also saw two of their more productive offensive players succumb to injuries. A third wasn't too far behind.
Sheffield was lifted during batting practice because of a swollen left hand. Jeter was removed after he was hit in the left elbow by a pitch from Kris Benson in the sixth.
Posada was hit under his right shoulder by Dae-Sung Koo's cleat during a play at the plate, but he stayed in.
The Yankees were thankful that none of the injuries warranted talk of the disabled list, but each player's status for today's game will not be determined until this morning.
At the time, Jeter's injury was the scariest for the Yankees. With the count full as he led off the sixth inning, Jeter was drilled in the left elbow by a fastball. He immediately clutched it with his right arm and was accompanied to first base by assistant trainer Steve Donohue.
Jeter convinced Donohue and manager Joe Torre to leave him in the game, but his elbow quickly swelled up. After he was forced out on Tony Womack's grounder to shortstop, he went downstairs for an X-ray, which came back negative.
"It's sore," Jeter said. "I mean, I can move it. But it's just getting hit by a pitch, no big deal."
Asked if he will play today, he said, "That's the plan."
But Torre said they will not make a decision on his playing status until Jeter arrives at the ballpark today and shows he can bend his elbow without much pain or restriction.
As for Sheffield, hitting coach Don Mattingly noticed that the rightfielder was favoring his right hand while taking batting practice and reported that to Torre. Not wanting to take any chances, Torre spoke with Sheffield and decided to keep him out.
"It started two weeks ago on a check swing and it swelled up," Sheffield said. "I've had this before, and it normally goes down, but it hasn't. So I just kept playing through it, and today, I guess he got tired of seeing my act."
Sheffield was available to pinch hit, Torre said.
Sheffield said he "should be" in the lineup today. "I wanted to play today," he said, "but they just felt like giving me a day off."
It marked the first time Sheffield didn't play this year. Hideki Matsui started in rightfield for the first time in his career, and Bernie Williams replaced Matsui in centerfield.
Posada suffered his injury in the seventh inning when Mets reliever Dae-Sung Koo, who had doubled off Randy Johnson, scored from second on Jose Reyes' sacrifice bunt that was fielded by Posada. Noting that nobody was covering home - Torre indicated after the game that it was Tino Martinez's responsibility - Posada dashed back to the plate, caught Robinson Cano's throw and dived to tag Koo, who was called safe by umpire Chuck Meriwether.
After Koo slid headfirst into the plate, one of his cleats caught Posada under his right shoulder. The Yankees checked on him a couple of pitches later, but he stayed in.
With ice packed around his right shoulder, Posada said he expects to play today.
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