A ray of hope for Ellsbury
HOUSTON — The Yankees have been without Jacoby Ellsbury for more than five weeks, but that could change by the time they get back to the Bronx.
Ellsbury tested his sprained right knee by running the bases on Saturday, something he’s scheduled to do again on Sunday. If all goes well, he could be sent for a minor-league rehab assignment within a day or two.
“If we can get through these couple of days where he does well, we could really start to talk about a rehab assignment,” Joe Girardi said. “Then you’re talking about him getting pretty close. The next two days are important, the running and being able to go 100%.”
It’s unclear how many rehab games Ellsbury would need to play, but Girardi didn’t shoot down the possibility of the center fielder rejoining the Yankees when they open a home stand on Friday against the first-place Rays.
“You’ve got to really know how a guy is feeling,” Girardi said. “If he feels good at the plate, sometimes they don’t need many (games). If they don’t feel good they may need a few more. I don’t ever put a number on it. I think the important thing is, once he plays, how does he feel the next day?”
ASTRO TARGETS A-ROD
What would a series be without a little A-Rod drama? Astros starter Brett Oberholtzer was ejected in the second inning for intentionally throwing at Alex Rodriguez, even though the pitch didn’t hit him. The pitch in question came immediately after Chris Young’s home run had given the Yankees a 6-0 lead, and while the pitcher said after the game that there was no intent, home plate umpire Rob Drake felt otherwise.
“The situation escalated because it was A-Rod and because Young hit a home run previously on a changeup away,” said Oberholtzer, who didn’t argue at all after being tossed. “What am I going to do? Am I going to protest after I got ejected?”
The Yankees clearly thought it was intentional, most notably CC Sabathia, who emerged from the dugout barking at Oberholtzer. Girardi jumped in front of Sabathia to make sure the big man didn’t cause the benches to clear.
“I think it’s a kid getting frustrated,” Girardi said. “I definitely think he threw at Alex. You don’t want to see that, but we’ve seen it before. You just move on.”
As if Oberholtzer’s day wasn’t bad enough, he was sent down to Triple-A after the game.
NOLAN LIKES NATHAN
After watching Nathan Eovaldi pitch on Friday night, Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan had a chance to meet his fellow Alvin, Tex., product on Saturday.
The two had never met, but Ryan said he’s followed Eovaldi's progress since he pitched in high school. When the Dodgers drafted Eovaldi in 2008, Ryan checked in with his old friend Charlie Hough, who was working in Los Angeles’ player development department, to get his thoughts on the pitcher.
“I have a lot of respect for Charlie and his eye, so I asked Charlie about him and he said he really liked him,” Ryan said. “He thought he had a lot of potential, so that made me feel good. I've just followed him ever since.”
With Ryan — currently a senior adviser for the Astros — sitting directly behind the plate, Eovaldi beat Houston with six innings of two-run ball on Friday.
“I thought he pitched a really good game last night,” Ryan said. “I think that he probably has one of the better arms in baseball. I think he knows how to pitch and he has a good idea of what he’s trying to do. I think the Yankees made themselves a good deal.”