Bad back sidelines 1B Rizzo

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Anthony Rizzo’s balky back has made its first disruption of the year.

The Yankees first baseman was originally scheduled to make the two-game road trip here on Sunday, but his back was acting up so the Yankees had him stay in Tampa instead.

“His back was a little cranky,” manager Aaron Boone said before a 3-3 tie with the Red Sox at JetBlue Park. “But he’s good. We just decided instead of having him drive down here for these [two games], we’d rather just hold off and play him when we get home. We got that stretch of games. But he’s doing fine.”

The 33-year-old Rizzo played Thursday against the Red Sox at Steinbrenner Field, but he began feeling something in his back in that game. Boone said Rizzo did not need to undergo any testing, but that the Yankees were just trying to stay ahead of any further issues.

“It’s not a big deal,” Boone said. “He’s fine.”

Rizzo, who re-signed on a two-year, $40 million deal this offseason, dealt with back issues on multiple occasions last season. It came to a head in September when the back tightness necessitated an epidural, which led to complications that landed him on the injured list. He rebounded from that to be one of the Yankees’ best bats during the playoffs.

Upon arriving at spring training last month, Rizzo said he would have to continue managing his back throughout the year.

➤ On his way down to Fort Myers on Sunday morning, Boone placed a call to bench coach Carlos Mendoza, who is serving in the same capacity for Venezuela, which knocked off the Dominican Republic in its WBC opener Saturday night.

“He didn’t answer at first, so I was like, ‘Oh man.’ He could be laying out, passed out in the [hotel] lobby with a Venezuelan flag, who knows?” Boone said with a laugh. “But no, I can’t imagine how electric a scene it was down in Miami [Saturday] night with Venezuela and the Dominican going at it. … So yeah, I think he’s pretty excited about it.”