Chase Headley showed signs of life again in Friday’s 7-1 loss to the White Sox with his second homer in as many games, and Mark Teixeira snapped a 14-at-bat hitless streak as both switch-hitters looked to break out of lengthy slumps.
“I feel great,” said Headley, who pulled a homer from the right side off Chris Sale in the bottom of the second. He hit an opposite-field homer batting lefty Thursday. “I love my swing right now.”
He still was disappointed to have just one hit on the night.
“That’s all I have to show for it,” Headley said. “That’s how you hit .196.”
Teixeira fared somewhat better in his second game back after missing a pair with neck spasms. He went 2-for-4 with a double. It was his first multi-hit game since April 26 and first extra-base hit since April 25.
Teixeira had fanned six times in his eight at-bats going into the game, blaming the problems on bad mechanics.
“They’ve really suffered the last seven to 10 days,” Teixeira said. “I’ve just got to get back to being mechanically the hitter I am.”
Teixeira’s horrendous first month has played a significant role in the lineup’s rotten opening five weeks.
“I haven’t been very close the last couple of weeks,” Teixeira said. “I had a great cage session [Friday]. When your mechanics are right and your timing is right, then everything works. When your timing is off and your mechanics are off, good luck. You’re not getting any hits. That’s me right now.”
That’s been him for much of the season.
“Early on [in spring training], my timing was bad, but I felt really good the first week of the season,” Teixeira said of his first seven games, when he belted his only three homers of the season.
CC Sabathia (groin) threw a bullpen session Friday and said everything went well.
Joe Girardi said Jacoby Ellsbury could get back on the field Saturday, even though the Yankees are facing another lefty, Jose Quintana. He certainly would like to have him in the lineup before they head to Arizona on Monday.
“That is my hope,” Girardi said. “If he feels ready [Saturday], he’ll probably play.”
Ellsbury hasn’t played since suffering a tight right hip May 6.
To make room for Gary Sanchez on the roster, LHP Tyler Olson was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. … Girardi kept Brian McCann out of the starting lineup Friday against southpaw Chris Sale, but he is expected to be back against Quintana on Saturday. And while Brett Gardner was at or near the top of the lineup recently against Boston lefty David Price, Girardi batted him seventh on Friday.
Gardner entered with no hits, four strikeouts and two walks in nine plate appearances against Sale and went 1-for-3.