YANKS FEEL HEAT WAVE
Castro’s oblique doesn’t look bleak at all
Yankees second baseman Starlin Castro was out of Monday’s lineup against Kansas City, but before Bombers fans reach for the Alka-Seltzer fearing another player heading to the DL (where CC Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez reside), both he and Joe Girardi downplayed Castro’s oblique injury
“I’m ready to play, but (Girardi) decided to give me the day off (Monday). I’ll be ready on the bench. Whatever situation they want to use me, I’ll be ready,” Castro said before the series opener with the Royals. “I went to the weight room and the training room and I did a lot of stuff. I don’t really feel (tightness).”
Castro had played in the Yankees’ first 29 games before getting Monday off.
“The question was asked to him, ‘If this was a playoff game, could you play? He said, ‘I’ll play today. It doesn’t need to be a playoff game.’ I just thought, let’s give him a day. It is a sigh of relief that he feels a lot better,” said Girardi.
JOHNNY B GONE
After Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman was reinstated Monday, relief pitcher Johnny Barbato was optioned to Triple-A. The 23-year-old righthander pitched in 12 games for the Bombers this season after winning outstanding rookie honors in spring training. He was 1-2 with a 5.54 ERA.
SEE YA, TEX
Carlos Beltran smacked a pair of home runs Monday night, the 397th and 398th of his career. That moved him past teammate Mark Teixeira for fourth on the all-time list for switchhitters, though Beltran insisted that he and Teixeira aren’t in a race to see who can hit No. 400 first.
“He might pass me tomorrow,” Beltran said with a smile. “We’re two completely different ballplayers. We don’t talk about it, I don’t feel like I compete with him, I don’t feel like he competes with me, we just try to go out there and help the team.”
The multi-homer game was the 38th of Beltran’s career, his first since last June 20 against the Tigers. At 39 years, 15 days, Beltran is the second-oldest player to hit two homers in a game this season, behind 40-year-old David Ortiz.
THERE FOR JOSE
Beltran says he still keeps in touch with old Mets teammate Jose Reyes via text while Reyes awaits a decision from MLB on if he’ll be disciplined for a domestic abuse incident in Hawaii last Oct. 31. But Beltran says the exchanges are little more than, “How are you doing? Stay strong. Keep working hard.”
“He appreciates that I reach out to him,” said Beltran. “We haven’t been able to talk anything about his situation. I don’t know what’s going to happen, when it’s going to happen. No one knows.”
INSTANT HIT
Ben Gamel singled in his only at-bat after entering the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth, picking up his first major-league hit in his firstever plate appearance. “Words can’t describe it,” said Gamel. “Awesome.” ... Phil Coke walked one batter over two-thirds of an inning, making his first appearance for the Yankees since Game 5 of the 2009 World Series.