Sunday's notes: Granderson, Claiborne, Nunez.

Nunez day to day:

Eduardo Nunez had to leave Sunday's with some tightness in his left ribs, causing the Yankees shortstop to undergo an MRI in hopes of it being nothing serious. Luckily the MRI came back negative and is only listed as day to day.


"Started in the third inning," Nunez said. "I thought it might be some food, something like that. I kept playing. After I swing [in the third], it hurt a lot. I went out to play defense, I couldn't move."

Nunez has already missed a few games this years after two seperate incidents of him getting hit by pitches and today was had to leave in the middle of the Yankees 5-4 loss to Oakland. Jayson Nix moved over to short and Chris Nelson entered to game as Nunez's replacement.


"[Nunez] just came to me in the fourth inning and said he had a little irritation," said Girardi. "He wanted to try to go, so I sent him to the on-deck circle and told him to take a couple swings.

"The last out was made, and I said, 'What did you feel?' He said it was irritated and I said, 'So you're done.'

"You don't want to make that a six-week injury if it can just be a couple days. We'll see how he feels Tuesday, although I don't think we'll have a player then."

Granderson might return to play left:

As Curtis Granderson continues his rehab and is slowly coming closer to returning, it's come to the mind of Joe Girardi as to where Granderson will play upon his return. Brett Gardner is playing well in center and Vernon Wells has been a large source of production for the Yankees.


"We might toy around with some other things," said Girardi on Sunday. "Left, right, [DH] things. [Granderson] is getting reps everywhere right now (in extended spring action in Tampa, Fla.). My concern is how he reacts to all the different spots.

"We'll decide that as time goes on. We just want to get him healthy. Grandy is going to play, he is a big part of our offense. But as we see around here, a lot can happen in a couple weeks."

After four workouts in Tampa he's the closest injured Yankee to returning as A-Rod and Teixeira will be heading down to the Yankees spring complex on Monday.

"I get little updates, but the update I don't want to hear is that we had a setback. If we don't have a setback, I don't get too worried about it. I know there are a lot of big people there, I understand that, but that is not going to be the focus of my day. The focus is the people in this room right now."

Claiborne tosses perfect debut:

Even though tah Yankees lost to the Athletics on Sunday, they were given a bright sign when Preston Claiborne started off his big league career with two perfect innings againg the challenging A's lineup.


"He threw strikes, used all his pitches, used his slider, used his changeup effectively," said manager Joe Girardi. "I thought he had pretty good command of his fastball. He gave us two important innings that allowed us to come back and tie the score."

The Yankees called up Claiborne prior to Friday's game, after they had placed Joba Chamberlin on the disabled list Thursday due to a right oblique strain. He said that he tried to pretend he was on any old mound, and not at Yankee Stadium.


"This was big game for me obviously, the biggest one I have pitched in my life," he said. "I was trying to keep in mind I was just playing baseball. It's a huge step for me, and obviously a big confidence booster. "

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