Chapman won’t pitch in the All-Star Game

CLEVELAND — Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman won’t pitch in the All-Star Game in order to rest his sore left knee.

Chapman earned his 25th save Thursday against the Cleveland Indians in his first appearance since Saturday, when he was removed from a game in Toronto after facing one batter because of discomfort in the knee.

Chapman, who has made the All-Star team five times, is 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in 40 appearances. He has struck out 67 in 39 innings and held opponents to a .129 batting average.

“I’m trying to put together a couple of days where I don’t do any baseball activity, just let the knee get better,” Chapman said through a translator.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Chapman is available to pitch in the final three games of the series that ends Sunday. He didn’t pitch on Friday night in the Yankees’ 6-5 loss to the Indians. Starting pitcher Domingo German surrendered six earned runs over four innings and New York was unable to rally.

Boone thinks giving Chapman time to rest the knee will be beneficial.

“It certainly can’t hurt him,” Boone said. “Obviously this is something he’s been dealing with now for a while, but that we also feel good about that he can continue to deal with it, and it’s something that we’ll continue to monitor all the time. But hopefully, it’s a good decision for him and for us.”

Chapman said he experienced no problems with the knee as he breezed through the ninth inning Thursday, striking out one and not allowing a ball out of the infield on 11 pitches.