David huff Robertson day-to-day not available Sunday

NEW YORK -- Dave Robertson will not be available for the Yankees on Sunday, one day after he had to leave an appearance with tightness in his lower back.

"He's down today. He's day-to-day," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He doesn't feel terrible today, but I won't use him and see how he is tomorrow."

Robertson said that he never had a bruise from the hard liner that Joe Mauer smoked off his back on Wednesday, saying that his belt -- which still has the seams from where the ball impacted it -- took the brunt of the damage.

"It's right above that, so I'm guessing that ball he hit off me probably had a little something to do with it," said Robertson, who is wearing a heat pack on his back to keep it loose.
A-Rod talks to Huff, happy pitcher is OK

NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez was breathing a little easier on Sunday morning, having talked to Indians starter David Huff and learning that he was OK after being struck above the left ear by Rodriguez's line drive in the third inning on Saturday.

Rodriguez left the Yankees' clubhouse shortly after the completion of Saturday's game to see Huff in the hospital, but the pitcher was already back with the Indians at that point. Rodriguez was able to talk to him over the phone on Saturday night.

"We spoke for about five or 10 minutes, and he's just a really nice guy," Rodriguez said. "He was in good spirits. He said the results were good. There are more tests coming out and hopefully they'll be good, too."

Rodriguez compared the incident to one from two years ago, when a shot off the bat of Bobby Abreu hit Twins' pitcher Nick Blackburn in the head. This one was different, Rodriguez said, both because Huff remained motionless for so long and because the third baseman knew just how hard he hit the ball.

"David laid there for what seemed like 30 minutes, but was probably three or four minutes," Rodriguez said. "We're there with 50,000 people and only one person knows how hard you hit a guy. A lot of times you hit it back up the box, and you hit it off the end or off your hand a little. But I hit that ball really flush. He actually kidded with me yesterday that he was going to come find me during batting practice and ask me if that was my best shot, if that's all I got. My answer would have been, 'Yeah. That's all I got.'"

It wasn't too hard to discern just how hard Rodriguez had hit the ball after it ricocheted well into right field off of Huff's head. Once Rodriguez reached second safely, he took off his helmet and jogged toward the mound to check on the pitcher.

"I literally saw that ball go toward his head in slow motion," Rodriguez said. "It sounded like it hit cement, like a brick wall."

Huff appears to be fine after the scary moment, with Tribe manager Manny Acta reporting that the pitcher didn't have any concussive symptoms on Saturday. Huff is back with the team and may even make his next start.
Posada takes BP, eager to return to action

NEW YORK -- Jorge Posada has been adamant that his fractured right foot will not cost him nearly as much time as the Yankees have estimated, and continues to believe that he can beat all conservative timetables back into action.

Posada has not played since May 16, and when he was placed on the 15-day disabled list four days later, the Yankees guessed that he might miss three to four weeks.

But after taking batting practice at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, the catcher believes he might be ready very soon.

"I need more hitting, and we'll see," Posada said. "I think if I hit today and tomorrow, we'll see. Running is the thing. I've got to run the bases and all of that stuff. If it feels fine after that, we'll see."

Yankees manager Joe Girardi did not have a date in mind for Posada, who may need to play in rehab games before being activated. Posada can be activated on Tuesday at the earliest and said that he "would like to" play in the Orioles series that begins that night.

"I think a lot of it is going to take care of itself when we see him run, which is real close," Girardi said. "We're real close to seeing him run on the treadmill. Once he gets through that, we'll probably put him on the field to run. And once he gets through that, he's real close."

Posada had another MRI on Thursday in New York that confirmed he is healing well from the fracture, which he believes came from a foul tip off the bat of the Twins' Michael Cuddyer. Posada was happy to get the boot removed, the first step toward his return.

"It felt better without the boot than with the boot, to tell you the truth," Posada said. "Everything else was hurting because of the boot, hip and back and all that stuff. I tried my shoe and it felt good."

Girardi said that he would watch Posada to see if he runs with a limp, which would be a "huge concern" because of the chain reaction of injuries it could cause. Other than that, Girardi said he could be quick to offer a green light.

"The one thing we don't necessarily have to worry about is, in a polite way, speed is not one of the things we have to worry about," Girardi said. "As long as he's running OK, I don't see it being an issue. It's a little different to when you look at someone like [Curtis] Granderson, because he has so much field to cover out there."