NEW YORK (AP) -Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano was out of the starting lineup for their game against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday because of a sore left hand.
Xavier Nady, meanwhile, was back in left field and batting sixth after resting his swollen right quadriceps in New York’s 1-0 loss to the Angels on Friday night.
Cano hurt his hand last Sunday night swinging at a pitch from Boston’s Jon Lester, but he remained in the lineup for the next five games.
“It was not good the last few days,” said Cano, sitting in front of his locker with the hand heavily taped.
Cano, a career .303 hitter who slumped this season to .246 through July 13, used the All-Star break to work on his swing with his father in the Dominican Republic. He then went on a tear, going 18-for-39 (.462) in the next eight games, all Yankees wins.
He went 0-for-4 the night he was injured and is 4-for-22 (.181) since. New York has dropped five of six in that stretch.
Cano said the hand only hurt when he swung at “middle-in pitches.” He had not yet had an X-ray and manager Joe Girardi said Cano would be available Saturday.
“We’re going to give him a day off today and see how he feels tomorrow, make sure we get him back 100 percent,” Girardi said. “He was swinging the bat so great. I think it’s affecting him a little bit.”
Wilson Betemit was penciled in to make his second start at second base this season and was in the No. 7 spot in the order.
Nady, acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates last weekend, felt the injury after his first at-bat Wednesday night. The Yankees kept him out of the lineup Friday for precautionary reasons but tests showed he was OK.
“When he was tested by the doctors there was nothing that would necessarily indicate he would have a pull or a strain,” Girardi said.
Girardi said Nady would be in the lineup even though the outfield grass was wet from an early storm.
“I feel like I could go today,” Nady said.
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