* Recently retired Luis Gonzalez said yesterday that he’s “hoping and praying” the full list of players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003 is revealed because “I’m hoping I get a lot of apologies when that list comes out.”
“I’m really one of those other 500 guys in the league that hopes that list comes out so I can walk around and nobody whispers behind my back, saying that he did it that year.” By “that year” he means 2001, when Gonzalez hit 57 homers at the age of 33 after never topping 31 before or after.
* Last night at Dodger Stadium a remote-control airplane flew above the field before crashing into a fence next to the Diamondbacks’ dugout. Amusingly, players had vastly different reactions to the odd situation.
Matt Kemp said: “That was tight, I liked that. That stayed in the air for a cool two or three minutes.” On the other hand, Augie Ojeda picked up the crashed airplane and then ripped it into two pieces as the crowd booed. Bully.
* Dallas Braden has been one of the few bright spots in Oakland this season, posting a 3.89 ERA in 22 starts, but he’s reportedly “extremely unlikely to be back this year” because of lingering foot problems.
* X-rays came back negative after Adam Jones injured his ankle last night, but Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com notes that “he’s in a lot of pain at the moment and he figures to be out of the lineup for a while.”
* Back problems may relegate Gary Sheffield to pinch-hitting duties down the stretch.
* Jorge Posada: Great at hitting, not so great at counting.
Yankees place Nestor Cortes on 15-day injured list with left rotator cuff strain
Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
The Yankees placed Nestor Cortes on the 15-day injured list with a left rotator cuff strain that will sideline the left-hander for at least two starts.
The move is retroactive to Monday and Cortes will be shut down for at least 15 days.
After Tuesday’s game, Cortes said the shoulder has been bothering him between starts and more so after he pitched five innings May 30 in Seattle.
“I took two days off and when I got to LA and threw that first day, I didn’t feel right,” Cortes said Tuesday. “But it was first day coming back from pitching so I knew it was going to be nagging a little bit. So I waited a little bit.
“That second day in LA was when I said something because it felt like I had pitched yesterday. So I wasn’t recovering in time.”
Cortes is 5-2 with a 5.16 ERA in 11 starts and has particularly struggled later in outings. Opponents are hitting .447 when facing him for the third time in a game.
Last year, Cortes was an All-Star and went 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA in 28 starts.
Randy Vásquez was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre to take Cortes’ spot in the rotation and will make his second career start in Thursday’s doubleheader. Vásquez made his major league debut May 26 against San Diego when the Yankees needed a starter because Domingo Germán was serving a 10-game suspension for using sticky substances.