Mark Teixeira rests his sore wrist

Mark Teixeira said that his left wrist was inflamed and sore, using the same two words that had described the symptoms that required a shot of cortisone and two games off for him recently. Neither he nor the Yankees believes this flare-up is serious. Then again, neither could say when he will play again. He was not in the lineup Friday night to face the Red Sox, against whom he has 18 RBIs this season (the most by a Yankee in a season against Boston since Roger Maris had 19 in 1961).

“I don’t think it’s a long-term problem, but we’ve got to get through this,” Joe Girardi said before the game, in which Nick Swisher started at first base. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s more than a day.”

Teixeira appeared to have injured the wrist in the field on July 30, when he landed on it awkwardly. His wrist was in a brace the next night, but four days after getting hurt, he was back in the lineup. He said Friday that the wear and tear of 14 straight games wore down the wrist.

“It’s probably time to give it a rest, anyway,” Teixeira said. “I’m taking 50 swings in the cage, I’m taking 20 on the field every day, and the game swings. That just adds up after a couple weeks. You try to make an effort to swing enough to stay sharp but not overdo it, and I’ve been trying to do that these last two weeks. So we’ll continue that.”

An MRI when the injury first occurred revealed no structural damage, and Teixeira does not foresee the need for another shot. He thinks the wrist will get better on its own. But violent swings and checked swings, he said, “aren’t good. That’s just the way it is.”