Carlos Beltran was back in The Bronx Thursday night after being away from the team since Tuesday following his wife’s miscarriage.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Beltran was available off the bench, but he wasn’t needed.
“My heart goes out to him and obviously his family,” Girardi said before the Yankees’ 3-2 win over the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. “When guys go through this, I think sometimes people think we’re immune to problems because we’re professional athletes, but you deal with things on an everyday basis. You go through issues, too.”
Beltran and his wife, Jessica, have two daughters and were expecting their first son.
Chris Young (1-for-4) was in right field and Brian McCann (0-for-4) was the designated hitter.
Masahiro Tanaka threw his final bullpen session and is expected to take the mound Sunday against the Blue Jays.
“We’re shooting for Sunday,” Girardi said. “If he doesn’t pitch Sunday, we know something’s up.”
The Yankees want to get a sense of whether Tanaka needs Tommy John surgery, or if he can pitch with the partially torn UCL in his right elbow.
Girardi said is bullpen session on Thursday went fine.
“So far so good,” Girardi said. “He threw a bullpen [session] and didn’t get any reports. That’s always good.”
Shane Greene threw 6 ²/₃ scoreless innings in the win and has given up just two earned runs in his last three starts over 17 innings.
“He’s been impressive,” Girardi said.
CC Sabathia said his troublesome right knee feels good and is waiting for the go-ahead to play catch before end of the month.
“Everything feels fine,” Sabathia said.
Francisco Cervelli was behind the plate for the second time in three days. He had missed the previous 13 games with cluster headaches, but has produced when healthy. He went 1-for-3.
“He had the hamstring issue … and had the migraines,” Girardi said of Cervelli’s health woes this season that both led to extensive absences. “Fortunately those [headaches] are behind him because those are miserable. When he’s played, he’s played extremely well.”
Derek Jeter, who had a solo home run and an infield single, said he was pleased with the way his Gatorade commercial ended up, which featured him mingling with fans in The Bronx.
“It was an opportunity, I felt, to thank people,” Jeter said. “It was a fun experience, it didn’t take long, we were out there for like 30 minutes.’’
Stephen Drew’s run-scoring double in the fifth gave him his first RBI since Aug. 25. The 16 straight games without an RBI matched the longest of his career.
As of Thursday, Toronto right-hander Marcus Stroman was still scheduled to start Saturday as he awaits a hearing to appeal his six-game suspension.
Stroman has denied his pitch that went near Baltimore’s Caleb Joseph’s head on Monday was intentional. If Stroman is unavailable, Todd Redmond could start in his place.