Just when you thought Lance Berkman couldn’t do any worse, he smokes Alex Rodriguez in the shin with a line drive during batting practice. A-Rod’s status for today’s 4 p.m. game is unknown, but he walked off the field with the help of Gene Monahan.
OK, let’s get real. This was an accident on Berkman, and the world has crashed down on him since becoming a Yankee. Oh well.
I’ll update this post as news becomes available.
UPDATE (2:33 p.m.): A-Rod is out of the lineup. Ramiro Pena is in. As Chad Jennings reports, Pena will bat ninth and everyone else slides down. Like this:
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Lance Berkman DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Brett Gardner LF
Ramiro Pena 3B
UPDATE (4:24 p.m.): X-rays on A-Rod were negative, so he’ll be day-to-day. Also, apparently Fox reporter Joe Buck was distracting A-Rod just before he got hit. Berkman’s off the hook.
By the way, Berkman took this whole mess the right way. Here’s what he said:
“I just told him when he was coming off the field, ‘Hey, sorry about that,’ ” Berkman said. “I mean clearly I didn't mean to. It wasn't like I was trying to hit him in the teeth and missed low. That's just one of the things about batting practice — I think we've all been hit before.”
Class. Act.
