Man, oh Manny: Big moment for Betances

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- What Dellin Betances will remember best from his two innings against the Rays on Thursday will be striking out Manny Ramirez -- who, like Betances, was born in Washington Heights and came through Youth Services Baseball.

After pitching a perfect sixth inning, Betances, 22, who grew up a Ramirez admirer and called him "a future Hall of Famer,'' got Ramirez looking at a 2-and-2 breaking ball to lead off the seventh.

"I was like, 'Oh, man, Manny's coming up,' " Betances said when he saw Ramirez in the on-deck circle in the sixth. "But when he came up, I looked at him as a normal guy, just one with dreadlocks. When I had two strikes, I'm going for the punchout, and I'm glad I got it."

Concern about Cervelli

After the Yankees' 1-1, 10-inning tie with the Rays, Brian Cashman still hadn't heard a definitive word regarding the extent of Francisco Cervelli's foot injury. And that wasn't necessarily a good thing. "Usually when it takes them so long to tell you there's nothing wrong,'' he said, "there's usually something wrong."

Cervelli, competing with Jesus Montero and Austin Romine for the backup catcher's job, left Wednesday's game after fouling a ball off his left foot. Does a prolonged absence by Cervelli bode well for Montero? Said Cashman, "I don't want to get ahead of it. Way too early." And Montero added, "I hope he's back on track again. I don't wish anything bad to anybody.''

. . . Russell Martin, 0-for-3 as the DH, gets his first start at catcher Friday night against the Red Sox . . . Eric Chavez started at first base and had one of the Yankees' four hits, a double. He is 3-for-9.