Andy Pettitte leaves game after getting hit on ankle

From two superb lefties to simply none of them left, the Yankees' rotation went from strength to question mark in a matter of a few hours Wednesday.

Just hours after CC Sabathia was placed on the disabled list, Andy Pettitte was removed from his start against the Indians with nobody out in the fifth inning after being hit on the left ankle by Casey Kotchman's comebacker.

Kotchman led off the fifth inning with the low liner off Pettitte, who fell to the ground as he attempted to go after the deflected ball. Joe Girardi came out of the dugout with members of the Yankees medical staff to evaluate the pitcher, but Pettitte convinced the manager to keep him in the game after throwing a couple of warm-up pitches.

Pettitte, however, didn't look comfortable making those warm-up tosses and also didn't seem right when he threw a first-pitch curveball strike to the next batter, Lou Marson. After the pitch, Girardi pulled Pettitte from the game, calling on Cody Eppley to finish the inning. The Yankees were leading 2-1 at the time Pettitte came out of the game, but the Indians took a 3-2 lead by the end of the inning as Eppley and Clay Rapada failed to duplicate the dominance Pettitte had shown early on.

Coming into his start against Cleveland, Pettitte was 3-3 with a 3.29 ERA for the Yankees. He kept up that strong work prior to getting hit Wednesday, striking out seven and allowing two runs (one earned) in his four-plus innings of work.

The Yankees had planned to use long reliever Freddy Garcia to start in Sabathia's spot this week, but Garcia was called into Wednesday's game with two outs in the fifth to squash a threat by the Indians, meaning the Yankees may need to fill Sabathia's start with a minor league call up.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman said earlier in the day that Adam Warren may take Sabathia's spot on the roster. Now he may take his spot in the rotation.