Ailing Headley sits again

The skidding Yankees have another problem, and it doesn’t involve the cratering pitching staff.

Third baseman Chase Headley was out of the lineup for a second straight game Friday night because of a balky back, and the earliest he could return is Sunday, manager Joe Girardi said.

Suddenly, first base and the team’s eroding pitching depth aren’t the only issues for the Yankees, who entered the opener of the weekend series against the Rangers having dropped eight of their past nine games.

Headley received an epidural injection Thursday night to ease the pain of the back spasms from which he’s suffering. He had been playing through discomfort for the past few weeks before it flared up recently.

Headley said he felt better on Friday then he did Thursday, but he has battled back issues related to a herniated disk for years. However, Headley doesn’t think that’s the problem in this case.

“I’m not having any of the disklike symptoms when I first hurt the disk,” he said before the Yankees’ 2-1, 10-inning win over the Rangers. “This is just the back being tight. ... I’ve been dealing with soreness the last couple weeks. It started in my left hip. I think that got things little bit out of whack. It had been manageable and then I woke up yesterday morning and had spasms going on and there’s nothing you can really do about it.”

For the time being, the Yankees are hoping to avoid sending Headley to the disabled list, going with Ronald Torreyes at third base while they see if the shot works. They are planning to play a man short, and Girardi said they would like to avoid losing a pitcher.

“There’s a lot of discussion: Do you go without an extra infielder?” Girardi said. “It’s kind of what we’re talking about and right now. It’s what we’re choosing to do.”

If anyone gets hurt, backup catcher Austin Romine will play the infield. He took ground balls on Thursday at third base as a precaution. The Yankees are comfortable with Romine there on an emergency basis. Torreyes, a quality utility man who is hitting .294 in limited at-bats, can play shortstop or second base if either Didi Gregorius or Starlin Castro cannot play for some reason.

“We’re rolling the dice,” Girardi said.