NEW YORK (AP) -Darrell Rasner left his outing against the New York Mets with a broken index finger on his pitching hand Saturday, becoming the latest Yankees starter to go down with an injury.
Endy Chavez hit a one-hopper back toward the box in the first inning, and the ball deflected off Rasner’s right hand before rolling onto the grass behind the mound. Chavez reached on an infield single that put runners at the corners.
Yankees manager Joe Torre, pitching coach Ron Guidry and trainer Gene Monahan immediately came out to check on Rasner, along with the team’s entire infield.
Rasner took a deep breath and tried a few warmup pitches. But on his fourth delivery, he hopped off the mound in obvious pain and grabbed his right hand before running into the dugout and down the steps toward the clubhouse.
Rasner lasted only nine pitches. The nature of his injury was announced in the fifth inning.
Starters Chien-Ming Wang and Mike Mussina have returned from hamstring problems, but the Yankees are still waiting for Phil Hughes (hamstring) to get healthy and Roger Clemens to round into game shape.
Jeff Karstens is recovering from a broken leg and Carl Pavano is also sidelined – again – with an elbow injury.
Tyler Clippard is scheduled to start for the Yankees on Sunday night in the series finale at Shea Stadium. That would make him the fifth starting pitcher to make his major league debut for New York this season, and the seventh rookie to start. He would be the 11th starter overall used by the Yankees.
Mike Myers, normally a left-handed specialist, replaced Rasner was given as much time as he needed to warm up. On his way back to the dugout, Torre stopped for a chat with general manager Brian Cashman, who was sitting in a front-row seat near the on-deck circle.
Myers allowed a shallow sacrifice fly to Carlos Beltran, then struck out Carlos Delgado before David Wright hit a long two-run homer. Wright connected for another two-run shot off Myers in the third.
Rasner got his chance in the rotation mostly because of injuries to other starters. He has pitched pretty well, though, entering 1-2 with a 3.28 ERA in five starts.
Clemens pitched four innings for Class-A Tampa on Friday night, the first minor league start of his latest comeback. He is expected to join New York’s rotation as early as May 28 at Toronto or June 2 or 3 at Boston.
The cause and timing of Rasner’s injury was remarkably similar to Karstens’ injury exactly three weeks before. On the rookie’s first pitch in a late afternoon game against Boston, Karstens was hit on the side of his knee by Julio Lugo’s line drive, breaking his right leg.
Karstens is expected to return this season.
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