ATLANTA — Even after a full day of rest Johnny Damon’s right calf wasn’t strong enough to get him back in the lineup last night against the Braves at Turner Field.
Damon, who experienced soreness in the leg when he lunged for a ball and missed Saturday night in Miami, wanted to test the leg in batting practice and then tell Joe Girardi how he felt. Girardi figured if the left fielder didn’t know before batting practice that it would be best to not start him.
So, for the second straight game Girardi used Melky Cabrera in left and batted Nick Swisher in Damon’s No. 2 spot. Damon, who walked as a pinch-hitter Sunday against the Marlins, did the same in last night’s 4-0 loss. He required a pinch-runner after each free pass.
“He still feels it a little bit,” Girardi said of Damon, who also is fighting an 8-for-43 (.186) slump. “I talked to the trainers and they felt it was better to give him one more day.”Asked if Damon is headed for tests, Girardi said, “Not right now, if he comes in [today sore], Gino [Monahan] may decide to see what’s going on.”
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The Yankees won’t have to go back to Miami to complete the final two innings of this past Sunday’s game against the Marlins, which they lost and protested.
Yesterday, MLB president Bob DuPuy denied the protest, which surfaced when the Marlins botched a double-switch and had two players in the No. 1 spot in the lineup after a pitch had been thrown in the eighth. Girardi was hoping to have pitcher Leo Nunez removed from the game, but the umpires didn’t agree. Girardi knew about the mistake before the first pitch, but didn’t want the umpires to tell the Marlins until after the pitch.
“I still think it’s kind of funny what happened, interesting,” Girardi said. “If you protest before the pitch is thrown they correct it and that’s unfair to us.”
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Girardi said it’s likely Alex Rodriguez‘s off day this week will come tonight or tomorrow and not against the Mets in Subway Series action this weekend.
Rodriguez went 0-for-4 and is in a 1-for-23 slide.
