Kevin Youkilis, left, talks to Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira in their Double-A game in Trenton. (AP)
TRENTON — The least-feared Yankees lineup in two decades is approaching its end.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman confirmed that Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis are both scheduled to return to the Bronx and start tomorrow night against the Red Sox, after each played in their first rehab game Wednesday — at Double-A Trenton — since going on the DL.
Teixeira, who has been sidelined all season with a right wrist tendon injury he suffered on March 5, went 0-for-2 with a walk — batting from the left side— while Youkilis, who has been out since April 27 with a lower back sprain, went 0-for-2 with a walk and a run.
Both players were removed after the seventh inning of the Thunder’s 3-1 win over the Erie SeaWolves at a packed Arm & Hammer Park and both are scheduled to play one more game Thursday at Trenton.
“They’re ready to go,” Cashman said after the game. “They feel strongly about where they’re at physically. As long as [Thursday] goes fine as far as their health, then you’ll see them back in New York where they belong and we look forward to that.”
Cashman wouldn’t comment on how Teixeira and Youkilis’ arrivals would impact the roster status of replacements Lyle Overbay and David Adams, but the Yankees general manager was clear that the All-Star infielders would immediately regain their starting spots.
“Mark is our first baseman, so there’s no working Mark in,” said Cashman. “He’s gonna return right back to where he belongs. Like we’ve been doing all year, we’ll make this up as we go along. We’re looking forward to getting the ‘A’ team back. We appreciate what the ‘B’ team has done, the ‘B’ bombers. It takes more than just 25. There’s a lot of players that have really stepped up and done a great job in their absence.”
Teixeira said his wrist has been “feeling great” for weeks, but Cashman said the Yankees wanted the first baseman to get as close of a replication to spring training as possible since he didn’t have one. Teixeira took around 40 at-bats in extended spring training in Tampa, where he worked with Youkilis.
Speaking Wednesday, the fifth-year Yankee couldn’t get rid of a smile that surfaced every time he talked about coming back and helping an offense that is 10th in the American League in runs scored this season.
“I’ve been anxious to get back since the day I got hurt,” said Teixeira. “That hasn’t changed. We definitely want to score more runs. Since I’ve been here, I think we’ve been one or two every year in runs scored in the major leagues. We’re not there right now. Kevin and I aren’t going to do it by ourselves, no one ever does, but hopefully it will be nice to get back in the lineup and score some more runs.”
Though Youkilis said his back feels 100 percent, Cashman said the Yankees would continue to rotate him between third base, first base and DH, to help prevent his history of back problems from resurfacing.
Youkilis didn’t see much action in the field yesterday, aside from one liner hit right at him, but the 34-year-old ran well on the bases on what he didn’t realize was a home run until he approached third base, from first.
“I’m feeling good and moving around,” said Youkilis, who is hitting .266 in 17 games with the Yankees. “I have a maintenance program that I do every day and I think that’s going to help me for the long haul is sticking to that program. As long as I keep doing the exercises that I’m supposed to do I think I’ll be good.”