Feeling ready to go, Tex returns to Yanks' lineup

NEW YORK -- Mark Teixeira took early batting practice on the diamond at Yankee Stadium on Friday and declared himself ready to play, having missed the Yankees' last three games with inflammation in his surgically repaired right wrist.

Teixeira said that the inflammation is related to the injury that ended his 2013 campaign, and he has been told that it could flare up again. He believes that he can stay in the lineup with proper management.

"It's exactly what we expected," said Teixeira, who visited a New York-based specialist during Thursday's off-day. "It's just tendinitis. That's what we expected. From that standpoint, it's a relief that there's no structural damage, but it's just something that we'll have to continue to deal with."

Teixeira was scratched from Monday's lineup against the Cardinals in St. Louis and has not played since Sunday against the White Sox in Chicago. The inflammation first started bothering him during Saturday's extra-inning game at U.S. Cellular Field.

"I'll just stay on top of it. I have stayed on top of it up until now," Teixeira said. "The next time it flares up, maybe take a day. Hopefully it doesn't turn into three. Sometimes taking a day when you first feel it will keep you from having to miss three. That's the goal."

Teixeira's absence during the Cardinals series forced the Yankees to use Kelly Johnson, Brian McCann and Brendan Ryan at first base. Friday, Teixeira was back at first and hitting cleanup.

"You can't predict when inflammation is going to pop up," manager Joe Girardi said. "I don't think we've run anyone out there too much to this point where we've jeopardized [health], but sometimes things just pop up and you have to deal with it."