NEW YORK -- Two of the Yankees' most important players were not in the game when it ended Saturday, as Gary Sheffield and Derek Jeter were dealing with minor injuries.

Sheffield was removed from the Bombers' lineup shortly before the game with what the team called soreness in his left hand. Hitting coach Don Mattingly watched Sheffield take batting practice before the game and informed manager Joe Torre that the right fielder was favoring his hand during his swing.

"It never gets to me from Sheff, because he's not going to say he can't play," said manager Joe Torre. "He's been struggling with this for a while. Donnie [Mattingly] saw him take batting practice and he was favoring it a little more than he usually does."

Sheffield said after the game that he wanted to play, adding that the decision to sit him belonged entirely to Torre. Sheffield had started each of the Yankees' first 42 games in right field, hitting third in all of them, but he said Saturday that he has been dealing with the hand problem for the past two weeks.

"It started about two weeks ago on a check swing, and it swelled up," Sheffield said. "I've had this before and it normally goes down, but it hasn't gone down. I just kept playing through it."

Sheffield was told by team trainers that a day or two of rest should solve the problem, but he feels that the injury isn't enough to keep him out of the lineup.

"Normally, I deal with it myself, it goes down and I continue to play," he said. "[The swelling] went down a little, but when I take a lot of batting practice or try to do extra work, it swells back up."

Bernie Williams was inserted into the lineup for the Yanks, batting third and playing center field. Hideki Matsui, who was penciled in to play center, was moved to right field. It is the first time in his Major League career that Matsui played in right field, though he did play there in Japan.

"I should be in there tomorrow," Sheffield said. "I wanted to play today, but he felt like giving me a day off."

Jeter, who started the game, was drilled in his left elbow by a Kris Benson pitch in the sixth inning. He remained in the game for a half-inning, but was replaced by Rey Sanchez when the Yankees took the field in the bottom of the sixth.

Precautionary X-Rays on Jeter's elbow were negative. The shortstop was listed as day-to-day, but he said he expects to be in the lineup Sunday.

"That's the plan," Jeter said. "I'm all right."

"He got it on the outside bone of his elbow," Torre said. "The X-rays are negative, which is good news. It's just a matter of how much freedom he has tomorrow." http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASAp...=.jsp&c_id=nyy