Freddy Garcia Scratched From Sunday's Start
NEW YORK (AP) — New York Yankees right-hander Freddy Garcia was scratched from his scheduled start Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays because of a cut on a finger sustained in a kitchen accident four or five days ago.
A.J. Burnett will get the ball in his place and manager Joe Girardi will be able to temporarily push back a decision on who gets dropped from New York's six-man rotation.
Girardi has been promising for several days that the team would go back to a five-man rotation after Sunday. Instead, the rest of the starters will move up a day.
"Sometimes decisions have a way of working their way out," Girardi said. "Freddy has a little cut on his finger so Freddy's not going to start tomorrow, A.J. is. We're just going to move everybody up."
Girardi didn't know how long Garcia will be out but the cut affects him when he throws his split-fingered fastball. The team knew about Garcia's injury but didn't choose to sideline him until he tried throwing the pitch on flat ground Saturday.
"He's going to have to throw a bullpen before he even tries to pitch in a game," Girardi said.
Garcia, along with Bartolo Colon, has been a pleasant surprise for the Yankees. The 34-year-old, oft-injured Garcia is 10-7 with a 3.16 ERA this year.
With Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett ineffective for much of the season, the two veterans have bolstered New York's rotation.
The Yankees have been using six starters since Ivan Nova was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to start a doubleheader game in late July. But Girardi is ready to return to five and Burnett and Hughes appeared to be the most likely candidates to lose a spot.
General manager Brian Cashman gave a strong endorsement of Burnett on Friday, but Hughes pitched six strong innings Saturday in a 9-2 win over Tampa Bay.
"I thought he mixed his pitches today as well as I ever seen him," Girardi said of Hughes.
Hughes gave up two runs and four hits and said he didn't think about what could have happened afterward.
"It's hard enough to pitch a really good game when you have a clear conscience so I knew I couldn't let anything distract me," he said.
Burnett will be followed by Ivan Nova on Monday in Kansas City. Bartolo Colon starts Tuesday and CC Sabathia goes Wednesday.
Girardi refused to say what would've happened if Garcia didn't cut himself.
"I don't have to answer that question," Girardi said. "That's the beauty of this."
