NEW YORK (AP) -Johnny Damon was back in the New York Yankees’ outfield Tuesday night, starting against the Baltimore Orioles even though he still feels some pain in his left shoulder when he throws.
Damon hurt his shoulder when he crashed into the Yankee Stadium fence attempting to catch a ball on July 4, and he went on the disabled list for the first time in his 14-season major league career.
He was activated last week and served as the designated hitter in seven games before returning to left field against the Orioles.
“I told them I was ready to go out there,” Damon said. “I’ve been making throws, letting some loose and throwing it as hard as I can, and you’re going to feel some pain there but I felt like it was time to get back out there.”
Damon hit a three-run drive in Monday night’s 13-4 loss to the Orioles for his first homer since May 27 at Baltimore, snapping a streak of 156 at-bats without one. It was his longest single-season drought since he went 188 at-bats without a homer in 1996 with Kansas City.
Damon, who was batting .317 with seven homers and 43 RBIs before Tuesday night’s game, said his shoulder probably won’t be 100 percent until the offseason.
“There’s going to be pain there so it’s just a matter of how much I can take,” he said.
That was news to manager Joe Girardi, who insisted Damon was pain free.
“He told us Sunday night that he had no pain,” Girardi said.
Damon’s improved health and Saturday’s acquisition of Xavier Nady from the Pittsburgh Pirates gives Girardi more flexibility for his lineup. Alex Rodriguez was the designated hitter against Baltimore – “a semi off day,” Girardi said – and Wilson Betemit got the start at third. Nady was out of the lineup.
Girardi said Bobby Abreu and Derek Jeter could serve as the DH in an upcoming game.
“We’re in this stretch of 20 games (in 20 days),” he said, “and you want your horses to play every day, and this is one way of keeping them off the field a little bit.”
Damon playing left field wasn’t the only encouraging sign for the Yankees on Tuesday. Right-hander Chien-Ming Wang got the cast off his right foot and was moving around the clubhouse with a black boot protecting his leg.
Wang, who was injured running the bases in Houston on June 15, said he felt better, but the ace isn’t expected back before September.
“I don’t think you count on anything,” Girardi said. “Obviously, we hope we’re going to get him back because he’s a big part of our club. You just got to see how the rehab goes.”
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