MLB notes

YANKEES Youkilis likes prognosis

NEW YORK - Kevin Youkilis is happy his back injury doesn’t appear serious and thinks he could return to the Yankees’ lineup as soon as his stint on the 15-day disabled list is up.

The corner infielder was back at the ballpark Wednesday, one day after being told to stay home and rest following an epidural injection. He said he should be able to resume baseball activities in about a week and hopes he’s ready to go when he’s eligible to come off the DLon May 13.

New York Manager Joe Girardi sounded more cautious.

“I hope so. But as I’ve said, backs are tricky and we never know exactly how they’re going to react. But our hope is that that should clear it up and he’ll be a player for us,” Girardi said.

Youkilis, 34, joined Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson on New York’s star-studded disabled list Tuesday because of a lumbar spine sprain. By playing Youkilis last weekend, the Yankees lost the chance to backdate the move to April 21 and could only make it retroactive to Sunday.

General Manager Brian Cashman said playing Youkilis on Saturday “was a mistake by everybody involved.” Youkilis, however, thought the epidural was “inevitable.”

“There’s no one to blame here,” he said. “I think I’m probably more to blame than others. It’s my mistake. I probably should have said I wasn’t 100 percent.”

Despite a history of back trouble, Youkilis was signed to a $12 million, one year contract in December to fill in at third base for Rodriguez after the three time MVP had off season hip surgery. Youkilis, a Gold Glove first baseman in 2007 with Boston, has also made five starts there with Teixeira sidelined.

Youkilis got off to a solid start but was injured April 20 in Toronto and missed six consecutive games with back stiffness before going 0 for 3 with a walk Saturday. He is batting .266 with two home runs and seven RBI in 17 games.

RANGERS Harrison has 2nd surgery

ARLINGTON, Texas - Texas Rangers left-hander Matt Harrison had a setback in his recovery from surgery on a herniated disk in his lower back, needing a second operation in nine days Wednesday.

General Manager Jon Daniels said Harrison, the Rangers opening-day starter this season, had an MRI on Wednesday after feeling some pain in his leg the previous day. He then had surgery to repair another herniation in the same disk and was feeling great afterward.

“Up to that point basically he had no discomfort in his leg,” Daniels said. “Similar to last time, he came out of it with flying colors, feels great now. Obviously he felt great last time for eight days. … I don’t think it’s that uncommon, but obviously we would have preferred he didn’t have to have it cleaned up.”

Daniels said Harrison had been doing about an hour of rehabilitation each day, which the GM termed “pretty minimal activity,” and doing about a half-hour of walking. Harrison was “just around his house” when he started feeling pain in his leg.

The Rangers don’t expect Harrison back for about three months, though Daniels said he wasn’t completely sure how the second operation would alter the timeline for the pitcher’s return.

“Time will tell, but the surgery went well and our expectation is the same as it was last time,” Daniels said. “We were looking at give-or-take three months beforehand, so we’re still operating under that same time frame as of today.”

Harrison, in the first season of a $55 million, five-year contract after being an 18-game winner and an All-Star last season, never had any back problems before this spring.

MARINERS Beavan sent to Tacoma

SEATTLE - Right-hander Blake Beavan has been optioned to Class AAA Tacoma by the Seattle Mariners, and the team recalled left-hander Lucas Luetge to add depth in the bullpen.

The Mariners made the roster moves Wednesday before playing Baltimore in the finale of their seven-game home stand.

Beavan earned a spot in the rotation out of spring training, but was moved to the bullpen when the team traded for Aaron Harang. Beavan had been used as a long reliever, but will start at Tacoma as the Mariners try to add additional options for the rotation.

Luetge was sent down because of the need for a fresh reliever after he pitched three innings of relief April 9. Luetge appeared in eight games with Tacoma, allowing three earned runs in 11 innings.

NATIONALS

Strasburg pain-free

ATLANTA - Washington pitcher Stephen Strasburg was expected to make his next scheduled start after experiencing no pain during a bullpen session Wednesday before the Nationals played the Atlanta Braves.

Strasburg had some discomfort in his right arm during a start Monday night against the Braves. While Manager Davey Johnson initially was concerned it could be serious, it appears Strasburg had nothing more than an irritated nerve from using an electrical stimulation machine.

He threw two days after his start, the normal routine for the right-hander. His next turn in the rotation would be Saturday at Pittsburgh.

“He had a great bullpen,” Johnson said. “Didn’t have any discomfort.”

Johnson was more worried about outfielder Jayson Werth, who missed his second game in a row with a strained right hamstring and a bruised left ankle.

Werth fouled a pitch off his ankle Monday, but the hamstring is potentially a bigger issue.

“I’m a little more concerned about his hamstring than the ankle,” Johnson said. “A bad bruise on the ankle is probably something that won’t get much worse. Probably hard to run. Probably hard to land on. But a tight hamstring, you could pull it and be out for a couple weeks. That’s something I don’t want to take a chance on.”

Having dropped under .500 with three consecutive losses, the Nationals don’t want to lose Werth for a significant amount of time just as third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is getting ready to come off the disabled list.

BLUE JAYS Dickey cleared to start

Blue Jays knuckle baller R.A. Dickey has been diagnosed with mild inflammation in his neck and back following an MRI, and will get an extra day of rest before his next start, Saturday against Seattle.

The 2011 National League Cy Young award winner, Dickey left an April 18 start against the Chicago White Sox after six shutout innings with neck and back tightness and has lost his two starts since, April 23 at Baltimore and April 28 at New York.

Dickey underwent an MRI before Wednesday’s game against the Red Sox and felt fine after throwing in the bullpen before the game, Manager John Gibbons said. Dickey is 2-4 with a 4.50 ERA in six starts with Toronto this season.

Gibbons said right-hander Josh Johnson will start Friday against Seattle, his first appearance since being scratched from a start last Friday because of tightness in his right triceps. Johnson is 0-1 with a 6.86 ERA in four starts.