NEW YORK -- Darrell Rasner left his outing against the Mets
with a broken index finger Saturday that could sideline him three
months, becoming the latest New York Yankees starter to go down
with an injury.
Hit on the right hand by Endy Chavez's one-hopper, Rasner lasted
only nine pitches. He left Shea Stadium to be examined by a hand
specialist and surgery was recommended.
"It turned out to be a pretty bad break," general manager
Brian Cashman said.
Starters Chien-Ming Wang and Mike Mussina have returned from
hamstring problems, but the struggling Yankees are still waiting
for Phil Hughes (hamstring) to get healthy and Roger Clemens to
round into game shape.
Jeff Karstens is recovering from a broken leg and Carl Pavano is
also sidelined -- again -- with an elbow injury.
Tyler Clippard is scheduled to start for the Yankees on Sunday
night in the series finale. That would make him the fifth starting
pitcher to make his major league debut for New York this season,
and the seventh rookie to start. He would be the 11th starter
overall used by the Yankees.
"To be honest, I wasn't thinking, `Oh no, not again," Cashman
said. "I wasn't really thinking about the rest of the stuff as
much as I was just thinking about Darrell, and was he all right."
Chavez's bouncer in the first inning deflected off Rasner's
right hand and the ball rolled onto the grass behind the mound.
Chavez reached on an infield single that put runners at the
corners.
Yankees manager Joe Torre, pitching coach Ron Guidry and trainer
Gene Monahan immediately came out to check on Rasner, along with
the team's entire infield.
Rasner took a deep breath and tried a few warmup pitches. But
when he threw a splitter on his fourth delivery, he hopped off the
mound in obvious pain and grabbed his right hand before running
into the dugout and down the steps toward the clubhouse.
Mike Myers, normally a left-handed specialist, replaced Rasner
and was given as much time as he needed to warm up. On his way back
to the dugout, Torre stopped for a chat with Cashman, who was
sitting in a front-row seat near the on-deck circle.
"When he threw the splitter, that's when he really felt it,"
Torre said. "It's something you have to deal with and move on."
Myers allowed a shallow sacrifice fly to Carlos Beltran, then
struck out Carlos Delgado before David Wright hit a long two-run
homer. Wright connected for another two-run shot off Myers in the
third, and the Mets went on to a 10-7 victory.
Rasner got his chance in the rotation mostly because of injuries
to other starters. He pitched pretty well, though, going 1-3 with a
4.01 ERA in six starts -- including the loss on Saturday.
"You feel for Razzer and all the other guys that have been
hurt," Myers said. "When guys go down you've got to have other
guys step up and do the job, and I didn't do that tonight."
Clemens pitched four innings for Class-A Tampa on Friday night,
the first minor league start of his latest comeback. He is expected
to join New York's rotation as early as May 28 at Toronto or June 2
or 3 at Boston.
The cause and timing of Rasner's injury was remarkably similar
to Karstens' injury exactly three weeks before. On the rookie's
first pitch in a late afternoon game against Boston, Karstens was
hit on the side of his knee by Julio Lugo's line drive, breaking
his right leg.
Karstens is expected to return this season.