DOUBLE OVER
DL unlikely for Romine after being hit in throat, hand
Austin Romine left Sunday’s 5-3 loss to the Rays with a bruised left hand.
Even though that caused an ugly welt, it wasn’t the worst part of his afternoon.
That came earlier in the game, when Adeiny Hechavarria fouled a ball off the dirt and it bounced up and hit Romine in the throat, causing the catcher to stay on the ground for several minutes while being treated by trainer Steve Donohue.
“That took the breath from me and it felt like I had a golf ball in my throat for a little bit,” Romine said. “It was hard to get some breath in there, but it calmed down and I just played. ... It was scary, but nothing broke, so you keep going.”
Romine could have regretted that decision in the sixth, when he was hit by a pitch from Steve Cishek and had to be looked at by the training staff again.
Romine remained in the game through the sixth, but was replaced by Gary Sanchez behind the plate to start the seventh.
X-rays on the hand were negative. Manager Joe Girardi said Romine might miss a few days, but a disabled list stint is unlikely, which is good news for the Yankees — since the only other catcher on the 40-man roster is Kyle Higashioka and he’s on the disabled list at Triple-A Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre.
“It got pretty swollen, pretty quick,” Romine said of his hand.
As for his throat: “That’s sore, as well. It was some type of day back there, but it’s all part of the job. You’ve got to roll with it.”
Sanchez allowed a passed ball in the seventh. It was his 10th of the season, most in the AL.
It was almost a bad scene for the Yankees in the second inning when left fielder Clint Frazier and center fielder Brett Gardner converged on Tim Beckham’s falling fly ball. They nearly collided before Gardner swerved away at the last second and Frazier gloved it. Both were calling for the ball.
“He has priority and I have to respect it,” Frazier said. “On that, the play was easier for me and we both called for it at the same time. It wasn’t that we miscommunicated.”
Frazier said he’s been deferring to Gardner as he learns the terrain of the different parks. From now on, he said he will be wary of such situations and that Gardner “has a Gold Glove and has earned the right, so if he wants the ball I’m going to let him get them.”
Frazier made a stellar play to rob Hechavarria on the next atbat. Stationed in left center, he raced more than 100 feet to leap and snare the drive before colliding with the wall.
“I thought it was going to be a homer at first, but he didn’t get all of it and I had my chance at it and took it,” Frazier said.
Yankees recalled Cha
sen Shreve from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday and optioned Caleb Smith to SWB. Shreve tossed a scoreless twothirds of an inning. ... With two hits Sunday, Ronald Torreyes is 15-for-42 (.357) with five runs, two doubles, a homer and seven RBIs since the All-Star break. ...
Didi Gregorius started at shortstop after getting hit in the hip and elbow by a sliding Steven
Souza at second Saturday.