NEW YORK (AP) -Johnny Damon’s injured left shoulder was wrapped tightly and the New York Yankees outfielder admitted to having some pills to dull the pain.
One day after he crashed into the left-field wall on one strange triple, Damon sounded resigned to the fact he might not be able to recover in time to prevent the first DL stint of his 14-season major league career.
“It means a lot,” Damon said of his run avoiding the disabled list, “but if I can’t go out there and help the team I understand the decision.”
Damon sprained and bruised his shoulder trying to track down Kevin Youkilis’ line drive in the third inning of New York’s 6-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Friday.
Damon raced back, jumped and gloved the ball but lost it when he crashed into the fence. It popped out of the webbing of his glove, bounced up off the top of the wall and came to rest briefly on the fence.
The sellout crowd of 55,130 at Yankee Stadium was riveted as the ball paused for a moment before rolling back onto the field. Youkilis cruised into third with a tying two-run triple as Damon threw the ball into the infield before leaving the game.
Damon got an X-ray and an MRI, which revealed a sprained acromioclavicular joint.
“He’s sore and he’s getting some treatment,” manager Joe Girardi said Saturday. “There’s a little bit of swelling in there.”
Girardi said he needed to talk to general manager Brian Cashman and head trainer Gene Monahan before making a decision on whether to place Damon on the DL. He also said the Yankees didn’t bring an outfielder to the area in case it made a move Saturday.
The uncertainty left the Yankees with just three healthy outfielders for the third of their four-game series against Boston.
“Our team has been playing short-handed all year,” said Damon, rattling off injuries to fellow outfielder Hideki Matsui, Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada. “There was a while we were going out with 22 guys with Posada being down earlier.
“We’ve been pretty banged-up and hopefully we can finish the first half strong and kind of evaluate where we’re going.”
The Yankees could have a better idea about Matsui’s balky left knee Tuesday, when Girardi said he probably will be re-evaluated.
Brett Gardner was in the starting lineup Saturday, batting leadoff and playing left field. Melky Cabrera was in center and Bobby Abreu in right. Girardi said Wilson Betemit, in the lineup at first base, could play the outfield if needed.
New York has an off day Monday before it hosts Tampa Bay for two games starting Tuesday night. There is another off day Thursday and the All-Star break runs from July 14-17, limiting the amount of games Damon would miss if he goes on the DL.
“Obviously that helps you if you have to do something,” Girardi said of the break, “because you get four free days. If something happens to him where you have to put him on the DL you’re looking at missing 10 games instead like 13, 14.”
The Yankees sent Justin Christian to Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre on Monday and could recall him if they put Damon on the DL.
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