Jeter hit by pitch, leaves game
06/04/2006 6:16 PM ET
Jeter hit by pitch, leaves game
Yankees captain struck on right hand in sixth, bruises thumb
By Mark Feinsand / MLB.com
BALTIMORE -- The Yankees have been ravaged by injuries this season, so the sight of Derek Jeter doubled over in pain on Sunday afternoon was very discomforting for New York.
Jeter was drilled on his right thumb by a Rodrigo Lopez pitch in the sixth inning of Sunday's 11-4 loss at Camden Yards. He left the game, but X-rays were negative and he is listed as day-to-day.
"It's all right," Jeter said. "It hurts every time you get hit. It didn't feel good, but it happens."
"He dives into a lot of balls and they like to pitch him inside," said manager Joe Torre. "It scared us."
Jeter missed two games this week in Detroit after spraining his right hand while sliding into second base. Both Torre and Jeter expect the shortstop to be in the lineup on Monday, as the Yankees open a four-game series in the Bronx against the rival Red Sox.
"Hopefully, he'll be fine for tomorrow; if there's any chance at all, he'll be playing," Torre said. "Everybody seems to forget what's wrong with them when these two teams play."
"I'm sure he's going to have to see me swing and throw," Jeter said, "but my plan is to play tomorrow."
Some Yankees privately expressed their unhappiness over the pitch, which came while the Orioles held a 10-0 lead. Kevin Millar, who hit a three-run home run in the third inning against Aaron Small, had been hit by Scott Erickson in his fifth-inning at-bat, and some of Jeter's teammates believed that Lopez hit Jeter in retaliation.
Jeter, however, did not say he thought that Lopez's pitch was intentional.
"I don't see any reason why it would be," Jeter said.
"I was trying to come in -- down-and-in. I just missed it," Lopez said. "It was high and didn't cut. I was trying to make it cut back to the plate, and it never cut. ... That was a bad pitch. I didn't mean to do it."
Jeter was doubled over in pain after being hit. With the game seemingly out of hand, Torre, who had gone to tend to Jeter on the field with assistant trainer Steve Donahue, told the shortstop his day was done.
Torre moved Miguel Cairo from third base to shortstop, Andy Phillips from first base to third base and Jorge Posada from catcher to first base. Kelly Stinnett took over behind the plate for Posada.
"The score the way it was," Torre said, "I thought it was the safest thing to do."
"I told him I could play when he hit me," Jeter said. "It was his decision."
With Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui on the disabled list with wrist injuries, and Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez and Mariano Rivera coming back from minor maladies of their own, the last thing the Yankees needed was for Jeter to join the list of the walking wounded.
"We're fortunate," Rodriguez said. "If it hit his front wrist it could have been more serious."
"It's part of the game," Jeter said of the Yankees' injury bug. "It happens at times. Fortunately, it's no big deal. You can't sit around and think that way."
Mark Feinsand is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Jeter hit by pitch, leaves game
Yankees captain struck on right hand in sixth, bruises thumb
By Mark Feinsand / MLB.com
BALTIMORE -- The Yankees have been ravaged by injuries this season, so the sight of Derek Jeter doubled over in pain on Sunday afternoon was very discomforting for New York.
Jeter was drilled on his right thumb by a Rodrigo Lopez pitch in the sixth inning of Sunday's 11-4 loss at Camden Yards. He left the game, but X-rays were negative and he is listed as day-to-day.
"It's all right," Jeter said. "It hurts every time you get hit. It didn't feel good, but it happens."
"He dives into a lot of balls and they like to pitch him inside," said manager Joe Torre. "It scared us."
Jeter missed two games this week in Detroit after spraining his right hand while sliding into second base. Both Torre and Jeter expect the shortstop to be in the lineup on Monday, as the Yankees open a four-game series in the Bronx against the rival Red Sox.
"Hopefully, he'll be fine for tomorrow; if there's any chance at all, he'll be playing," Torre said. "Everybody seems to forget what's wrong with them when these two teams play."
"I'm sure he's going to have to see me swing and throw," Jeter said, "but my plan is to play tomorrow."
Some Yankees privately expressed their unhappiness over the pitch, which came while the Orioles held a 10-0 lead. Kevin Millar, who hit a three-run home run in the third inning against Aaron Small, had been hit by Scott Erickson in his fifth-inning at-bat, and some of Jeter's teammates believed that Lopez hit Jeter in retaliation.
Jeter, however, did not say he thought that Lopez's pitch was intentional.
"I don't see any reason why it would be," Jeter said.
"I was trying to come in -- down-and-in. I just missed it," Lopez said. "It was high and didn't cut. I was trying to make it cut back to the plate, and it never cut. ... That was a bad pitch. I didn't mean to do it."
Jeter was doubled over in pain after being hit. With the game seemingly out of hand, Torre, who had gone to tend to Jeter on the field with assistant trainer Steve Donahue, told the shortstop his day was done.
Torre moved Miguel Cairo from third base to shortstop, Andy Phillips from first base to third base and Jorge Posada from catcher to first base. Kelly Stinnett took over behind the plate for Posada.
"The score the way it was," Torre said, "I thought it was the safest thing to do."
"I told him I could play when he hit me," Jeter said. "It was his decision."
With Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui on the disabled list with wrist injuries, and Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez and Mariano Rivera coming back from minor maladies of their own, the last thing the Yankees needed was for Jeter to join the list of the walking wounded.
"We're fortunate," Rodriguez said. "If it hit his front wrist it could have been more serious."
"It's part of the game," Jeter said of the Yankees' injury bug. "It happens at times. Fortunately, it's no big deal. You can't sit around and think that way."
Mark Feinsand is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
posted by Walking Contradiction at 10:11 AM
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