New York Yankees Notes: Andy Pettitte, Alex Rodriguez and AJ Burnett

The Yankees won the series against the Rays this weekend as they beat them 9-5 in the rubber game Sunday afternoon.

Here are some notes:

• The biggest news is that Andy Pettitte left the game in the third inning with a grade 1 groin strain. He’ll likely end up on the DL, but a grade 1 strain isn’t serious.
• Once the Yankees place Pettitte on the DL, RHP Ivan Nova is the most likely to replace him in the rotation although Sergio Mitre may be back just in time to make a start (if he’s stretched out enough).
• Alex Rodriguez homered today, it was his 598th of his career.
• AJ Burnett apologized to his teammates for cutting his hands during a tantrum he threw yesterday. Burnett doesn’t think he’ll miss a start.

Just a week ago the Yankees rotation was in great shape, but the All-Star Break seems to have taken the wind out of their sails. Burnett lost the touch that he seemed to be getting back and then injured himself. Now Pettitte is likely to land on the DL with a groin injury. Groin injuries tend to linger on pitchers, too.

That means that Chad Gaudin , Dustin Moseley , and Chan Ho Park will stick around longer than anticipated. One of them was likely to get DFA’d to make room for Mitre, now they might all get to keep their jobs.

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