The Yankees are trying to take three straight against the Red Sox this afternoon at Yankee Stadium. Here are some pregame notes:
BURNETT’S BACK: A.J. Burnett said his back felt better this morning and is hopeful that he’ll be able to start tomorrow in Texas. When he spoke to reporters, he was preparing to play catch with Dave Eiland. I didn’t see him after that session, but he felt like that was the last test for the back.
He said it’s the first time he’s ever had a back injury. He felt the pain in the middle of his back Saturday while playing catch.
“It was scary,” Burnett said. “Until I go out and play catch it’s still in the back of my mind.”
Burnett initially wanted to make his scheduled start last night, but the trainers and Joe Girardi decided to push him back and start Dustin Moseley.
“It was the right call,” Burnett said. “The extra day totally helped.”
ANDY UPDATE: Andy Pettitte threw a bullpen session this morning and said he felt no pain. The next step is a simulated game Thursday in Tampa, followed by a rehab start next week.
Pettitte said he hopes to return to the Yankees after that, but knows he must be cautious.
“I’m not going to come back here and do something stupid,” he said. “If I get down there in Tampa and do the simulated game and get through that OK, which I’m sure I will. If I don’t feel comfortable in that rehab start or whatever I’ll take an extra one because I don’t want to aggravate this thing again.
“I also realize I’m not here to win one game in August. That would defeat the whole purpose of me returning this year.”
LOTS OF LEFTIES: The Yankees begin a stretch of four straight left-handed opposing pitchers today. Girardi must balance playing his right-handed bench players while also keeping some regulars in the lineup. Today, Curtis Granderson gets the start in center, despite his struggles versus lefties.
“You’re going to see a lot of Austin Kearns, you’re probably going to see Marcus [Thames] DH a good share of these games,” Girardi said. “We might rotate [Granderson] and [Gardner] depending on matchups in those situations. At some point during this you’d like to get [Swisher] a day. Maybe Swish will get a day in Kansas City off a righty, play Austin in right.”
CATCHING ON: Jorge Posada is starting his third straight day at catcher for the first time since returning from his knee injury. Girardi has used Francisco Cervelli to catch Javier Vazquez and A.J. Burnett, but that may be altered now that they will be pitching on back-to-back days.
“It might be a situation where I give Jorgie two days off but it might be a situation where I catch Jorgie with Javy,” Girardi said. “It’s just something that I might have to do. Our rotation got changed a little bit. I like keeping the consistency and I’ll have to make that decision Wednesday.”
The LINEUPS
Red Sox
16 Marco Scutaro SS
7 J.D. Drew RF
41 Victor Martinez C
34 David Ortiz DH
29 Adrian Beltre 3B
25 Mike Lowell 1B
55 Ryan Kalish LF
22 Bill Hall 2B
2 Jacoby Ellsbury CF
31 Jon Lester P
Yankees
2 Derek Jeter SS
33 Nick Swisher RF
25 Mark Teixeira 1B
13 Alex Rodriguez 3B
24 Robinson Cano 2B
20 Jorge Posada C
38 Marcus Thames DH
26 Austin Kearns LF
14 Curtis Granderson CF
65 Phil Hughes P
