Pettitte, Kuroda appear OK after being hit by batted balls

ATLANTA -- Two batted balls that could have wrecked the Yankees' rejuvenated rotation apparently ended up doing little damage, giving Joe Girardi cause to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Fortunate," he said before 's game. "Because you're looking at a possible broken foot and broken finger."

The first bullet dodged came Friday against the Mets when Daniel Murphy sent a liner off Hiroki Kuroda's left foot. Kuroda, who suffered a contusion, left the clubhouse on crutches.

On Sunday, Andy Pettitte's fielded Scott Hairston's comebacker with his bare left hand, which caused some swelling.

Each pitcher expects to make his next start.

"It didn't swell at all," Pettitte said. "I wasn't concerned about it last night. I knew I'd be able to make my next start."

Kuroda didn't know that immediately after Friday's game; he walked with a limp that night and Saturday. But he threw a bullpen session Sunday and expects to start here in Wednesday's series finale.

"That's what I'm planning on doing," Kuroda said Monday through his translator. "I'm going to play catch right now and see how I feel after that, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm ready to go for my next start."

That's not to say Kuroda doesn't feel any effects from Murphy's shot. "A line drive hit me, so there's a little bit of tightness there," Kuroda said. "But after coming off the bullpen [Sunday], I felt fine, so I think I'm ready to go."

One thing Kuroda hasn't done is run sprints, something he said he'll do Tuesday. "I was unlucky that I got it but I guess I was lucky where I got hit," Kuroda said. "I didn't break any bones and all the X-rays came back negative, so I was lucky."

Soler signed by Cubs

Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler, aggressively pursued by the Yankees, signed a nine-year, $30-million deal with the Cubs, according to cbssports.com. The Yankees had moderate interest last offseason in Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, who signed with the Athletics, but they liked the 20-year-old Soler better. And with rightfielder Nick Swisher's contract being up after this season, the Yankees saw the 6-3, 205- pound Soler as a possible replacement at some point.

"Excellent power and pretty amazing bat speed," one opposing team scout said of Soler. "He has the tools to be a stud outfielder in the majors."

Robertson D.C.-bound?

David Robertson, who threw 11 pitches in a rehab appearance Sunday, will throw again Tuesday for Triple-A Scranton. If the righty reliever, on the DL with a strained left oblique since May 14, comes through OK, he should be ready to join the team in Washington for this weekend's series against the Nationals.

Batter intrigue

Girardi said, "I hold my breath a little bit" when his pitchers hit, which will be the case the next six games in National League ballparks. "Two-thousand eight, I think of Chien-Ming Wang, who hurt his foot; in 2010 [Javier] Vazquez hurt his finger on a bunt," he said. "Our track record hasn't been the greatest, so I worry a little bit."

Kuroda, who played the last four years for the Dodgers, isn't a fan of hitting.

"It's something that I'm not really good at," said Kuroda, a career .106 hitter. "I think if someone hit for me, we will have a better result."