M*A*S*H update in Yankeeland

[RLA68]

4/29/045

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASAp...=.jsp&c_id=nyy

Mariano Rivera will watch Friday's game from home after the Yankees closer was diagnosed with a viral infection earlier in the afternoon.

Rivera, who was also considered unavailable for Thursday's game against the Angels, left Yankee Stadium early Friday afternoon in his street clothes, saying goodbye to club employees.

"[I didn't expect] good news," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "He was pretty worn down today."

Torre said Tom Gordon will be used in the event of a save situation Friday.

Tanyon Sturtze (strained left oblique) is en route to Tampa, where he'll throw off a mound at the Yankees' complex Saturday afternoon.

Sturtze is expected to toss two or three innings on Monday and will then meet up with the Yankees, who will visit Tampa Bay after the Blue Jays series.

Torre also said that Ruben Sierra (partially torn left biceps) is progressing nicely, and can now hit "fine" against left-handed pitching.

It's the right-handers who are still giving Sierra a little bit of a problem, although Torre hasn't ruled out activating Sierra when he is eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list next Friday and using him off the bench against southpaws only. Sierra should take batting practice at some point next week.

"Obviously, we want to get him to the point where he doesn't feel it," Torre said.

Prior to Friday's game, Jaret Wright (strained right shoulder) received a cortisone shot administered by Yankees team physician Dr. Stuart Hershon.

4/28/05

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASAp...=.jsp&c_id=nyy

NEW YORK -- Ruben Sierra believes he will be back in action when he is eligible to return from the disabled list next Friday. Joe Torre isn't so confident.
Sierra, who has been out since April 21, participated in hitting drills in the batting cage for a second consecutive day, hitting soft-toss.

"I think I'm going to be playing soon," Sierra said. "They say a month, but I'm the one who feels it. I'm the one who knows if I can go longer or not. It's going to be two weeks [on the DL]."

Torre said Sierra's assessment was "optimistic," saying that the outfielder/DH will likely need some rehab games to test his injured right biceps muscle.

"It's just a matter of getting that strength back," Torre said. "You don't want to invest time and then have it go backwards."

Sierra said he didn't feel any pain while swinging in the cage.

"I don't feel anything. Maybe a little pinch, but it doesn't bother me when I swing," Sierra said. "When I swing, I feel good."

In Sierra's absence, the Yankees have used Andy Phillips at first base and DH, splitting time at the two positions with Jason Giambi and Tino Martinez.

"We're not going to try to keep him from coming back," Torre said. "He'd certainly be a benefit for us, but we'll make sure we don't try to move past the slow process we think it needs to take."

Matsui's mess: Hideki Matsui was the hottest hitter on the Yankees during the first two weeks of the season, but the left fielder has cooled off considerably of late.

Matsui has just one hit in his last 13 at-bats, and is 8-for-41 (.195) in his last 11 games. Matsui started the year 14-for-39 (.359), but said that he has been lunging at the plate during his recent skid.

"It just doesn't feel smooth. It's something that I have to pay attention to and work on," Matsui said through his interpreter. "It's not really frustration on my end. It's just something I go through during the course of the season."

Torre believes that Matsui doesn't look comfortable at the plate, causing him to jump at pitches while trying to identify them.

"That's baseball. You hit 600 times a year, you'd like to believe you can stay hot the whole time, but that's not the case," Torre said. "He's struggling right now, not seeing the ball real well. You know he's going to come out of it."

[RLA68]

I hate to say that I am loking forward to Sierra and Sturtze to getting back. Wright can stay on the DL.