Pavano scratched, Mussina hoping to avoid DL stint with hurt hamstring

 

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -Yankees right-hander Carl Pavano was scratched Friday from his scheduled start Saturday because of tightness in his forearm.
Fellow New York starter Mike Mussina, meanwhile, is hopeful that his hurt left hamstring will heal quickly enough to avoid a stint on the disabled list.
Pavano was pushed back to Tuesday’s game against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium as a precaution. He felt the problem in his throwing arm during his previous start Monday night and informed the Yankees afterward about it, then was told he’d be skipped upon arriving at the Oakland Coliseum on Friday. Right-hander Darrell Rasner will start Saturday in the middle game with the defending AL West champion Athletics.
Pavano threw seven innings in an 8-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Monday, giving up six hits and two runs for his first victory since May 22, 2005.
“I’m just going to give it a little extra time to get out of there,” said Pavano, who threw long toss Tuesday and Wednesday. “It just didn’t feel like it should feel. I’m not frustrated at all. It’s just something I’ve got to deal with. That’s just the way it is.”
Mussina did some running drills and played catch Friday, two days after leaving a 5-1 loss to Minnesota three batters into the third inning with the injury. He plans to throw off a mound Sunday and then have a better idea of when he might pitch again in a game.
“If I throw Sunday, it will probably be on the homestand when we decide,” Mussina said. “It hasn’t been 48 hours since I hurt it yet. It’s hard for me to tell.”
What he does know is that his leg is feeling much better than he expected so soon after hurting it.
The 38-year-old Mussina, who won 15 games last year for his most victories since getting 17 in 2003, has been receiving regular treatment on his hamstring the past two days.
“We haven’t made any target dates,” he said. “Yesterday and today, we haven’t talked about the disabled list. We’re all thinking pretty positively.”
Chien-Ming Wang is scheduled to pitch Saturday in an extended spring training game, his first action since injuring his right hamstring while running on March 23.
Wang will likely throw around 50 pitches against Tampa Bay minor leaguers. The Yankees hope the 19-game winner will rejoin the major league team in late April.
A second injured starter, Jeff Karstens, is slated to pitch for Class-A Tampa on Monday night. He has been sidelined since experiencing right elbow stiffness during a spring training start March 25.
Wang and Karstens played catch and took part in fielding drills Friday at the Yankees’ spring training complex.