If you thought the nearly four hours it took for the Yankees to lose was bad, it pales in comparison to the latest round of injury news.
A 10-6 loss to the Rays that was not really close to the final score took a backseat to Jorge Posada’s hairline fracture on the bottom of the catcher’s right foot.
Posada missed three games after taking a foul ball off the top of the foot Sunday against Minnesota’s Michael Cuddyer in the eighth inning. It created a knot and when pain lingered an MRI was performed and results were not announced until after the Yankees’ seventh loss in 11 games.
“This is something you’ve got to put your weight on, and all that stuff, and transfer your weight from one side to the other,” Posada said. “This is something that we have to take care of. I really can’t do much.”
Posada will head to the DL for the third straight season and will wear a walking boot. He is believed to be sidelined for three to four weeks, which takes the Yankees to about mid-June.
“It’s hard no matter what,” Posada said. “You see the team losing, you see the team struggling – you want to be out there. It’s tough, it really is.”
It was tough watching the Yankees, who were without Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson as well as Nick Swisher. It was made even more difficult when Marcus Thames sprained his left ankle slipping on a bat in the sixth, forcing Ramiro Pena into emergency action in right.
“You hope you don’t get a lot of them at the same time,” Derek Jeter said “But you can’t really feel sorry for yourself because the teams we’re playing don’t feel sorry for us.”
Jeter has found himself saying those things over the years. For example, he probably said it numerous times four years ago when the Yankees were without sluggers Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield for lengthy periods.
Then they made a big-ticket replacement by acquiring Bobby Abreu, but this time Francisco Cervelli will handle the bulk of the catching. While many may have a desire to see prospects Austin Romine and Jesus Montero, Chad Moeller is likely to join the team.
Posada’s injury news seemed like an appropriate conclusion to a difficult night.
A.J. Burnett allowed a leadoff home run to Jason Bartlett setting the tone for his second-worst start of the year. He did pitch 6 2/3 innings, which was enough to preserve some of the key bullpen arms, but also allowed six runs and six stolen bases.
Four of those occurred in the decisive fourth when the Rays went up 6-0. The Rays pulled of a double steal and took a four-run lead on John Jaso’s ground-rule double to left and added runs on RBI hits by Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria.
“It’s a matter of not having those innings where it slips away and being more consistent,” Burnett said. “When I first started off (the season) I was consistent, the first inning through seven. The last couple I’ve had a slip.”
“We know what they’re capable of,” Jeter said. “They’re going to force you to throw them out. That’s part of their game. They’re going to run and keep running.”
Burnett settled down and the Yankees might have had a comeback chance if the sixth went their way. They had the bases loaded and were down by four when Jeter got ahead but the inning ended with a groundout and the Yankees went quietly until the ninth.
By then relievers Boone Logan and Mark Melancon had turned it into a rout and instead the four-run ninth tying it, it only created the illusion of a closer game.
“They played a good game,” Girardi said. “That’s the bottom line.”
