YANKEE NOTES
If Aaron Small hadn’t hit a recent pothole as a starter, he wouldn’t be the latest candidate to improve the Yankees’ dreaded middle-relief bunch.
And while Small is more suited for long relief, it’s quite possible that Joe Torre will call on the veteran right-hander in the sixth or seventh inning to get the game to Tom Gordon and Mariano Rivera.
“I would use him in that situation,” Torre said of Small, who is 9-0 in 13 games (eight starts). “I could use him any time. It’s just a matter of what my options are.”
In his last three starts – all victories – Small pitched to a 6.50 ERA due to location problems. Wang is 1-1 with a 4.74 ERA in his last three starts.
Small warmed up in the ninth inning of last night’s 5-0 win but wasn’t used.
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Having spent hours in the trainer’s room getting his balky back treated yesterday, Jason Giambi didn’t have time to talk to Torre before the lineup was made out.
The manager took that as a sign Giambi wasn’t ready to return to first base last night against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.
Yet, Giambi, who missed Thursday’s game, said he was able to go.
“I told them I was able to play, I didn’t even know [I wasn’t in the lineup],” Giambi said. “I feel good. It has relaxed a lot and feels a lot better.”
Giambi, who is in a 3-for-24 (.125) funk, took batting practice in the cage.
“I wanted to give him another day,” said Torre. “My guess is that if he was OK, he would have come into my office.”
Giambi initially suffered the injury Sunday in Toronto lunging for a Derek Jeter throw. He aggravated it Wednesday night reaching for another Jeter throw.
Mike Mussina said he was “OK” after a six-inning stint Thursday in which he allowed one earned run, his first outing since Aug. 29 due to an inflamed right elbow.
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Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was ejected in the bottom of the sixth inning by plate umpire Marty Foster. It was Gibbons’ eighth thumb of the season. . . . The shutout was the Yankees’ 14th, which leads the AL.