Sore hip not expected to keep Jacoby Ellsbury out of tonight's lineup

The Yankees and Royals did not get a chance to finish their four-game series on Monday because of harsh rain throughout the day in Kansas City. However, had the two teams played Monday night's contest, Jacoby Ellsbury would not have been a part of it.

Ellsbury was not in the Yankees' lineup yesterday because of a sore right hip that he hurt while rounding first base trying to leg out a double in Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Royals.

Ellsbury, though, said that it's not very serious and expects to be in the Yankees' lineup on Tuesday when they open up a three-game series against Robinson Cano and Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.

“Just had an awkward step,” Ellsbury said. “Caught myself, ended up getting the double out of it. Obviously finished the game. Came in today, but the plan was to come in at some point in the game if they needed me to hit or defense or run. Whatever it might have been, I was available.”

“We’re not concerned about it,” Girardi said. “I could use him, but he’s played a lot of days in a row here, so I figured with the conditions the way they would be if we played tonight, with the soft outfield, I’d give him the day. But I expect him to be in there tomorrow.”

The Yankees can't afford to lose Ellsbury night now since he has been on of the hottest hitters in their lineup during this terrible scoring drought.

Ellsbury will enter play on Tuesday on a 13-game hitting streak after a mighty slump just a couple weeks ago. During this streak, the speedy lefty has hit .385.

Known as an injury-prone guy throughout his career, Ellsbury has stayed off of the DL so far this season. He did, though, deal with some calf tightness near the end of spring training, but was ready to go when the season began. And about a month ago, he missed a couple of days with a minor hand injury.

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