Yankees place Domingo German on IL with a left hip flexor strain

CLEVELAND — The Yankees' already thin rotation took another hit Sunday when Domingo German was placed on the injured list with a left hip flexor strain.

Lefthander Stephen Tarpley was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as a corresponding roster move and earned his first career save in the Yankees' 7-6, 10-inning victory over the Indians.

German, seen by a doctor here Saturday, will be evaluated in New York on Monday and will have an MRI. Aaron Boone said the Yankees, who went with Chad Green as an opener Sunday, likely will go the opener route again at some point during the upcoming four-game series against the White Sox that begins Thursday in Chicago. Chance Adams, among the few realistic starting options in the minors, would seem a likely call-up at some point.

“Hopefully it's something that’s minor and doesn’t hold him back for long,” Boone said.

After a 9-1 start, German has allowed seven homers in 14 2⁄3 innings in his last three starts, which helped send his ERA  from 2.60 to 3.86.  

Through his translator Sunday morning, German said he first started feeling something in the hip during his May 26 start in Kansas City, the start of the three-game slump, but did not say anything to the club.

“I didn’t tell the team at the time because I felt like it was the kind of injury that I was going to get through,” he said. “I thought it was something I could deal with and I could get over.”

But two more rough starts followed and German felt increased soreness in the area during Friday’s start here. He cut his long-toss session short Saturday, finally telling the training staff what he was feeling.

“We always want our players to treat whatever’s going on with them if there’s any kind of issues,” Boone said. “But you also understand that in major league sports, there’s little things that you deal with, that you view as a player as not that big a thing. It’s hard to get inside them to know exactly what level of discomfort he was in.”