Yanks maintain optimism with Tex again out

NEW YORK -- Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira was held out of the lineup for the second straight day Tuesday battling a stiff neck, which could have the Yankees concerned if the discomfort rolls into Wednesday.

"As of right now, I wouldn't think so," manager Joe Girardi said about Teixeira potentially going on the disabled list. "But if he comes in tomorrow and he's not better, you probably start to worry a little bit."

Girardi said Teixeira has been battling the stiffness for about 10 days. Teixeira had an MRI on Monday and it came back clean. He also had a shot of cortisone Monday, which Girardi said could take some time until it kicks in.

"Sometimes it can take even longer to take its full effect," Girardi said. "My thought is, you give him a couple of days off and he'll be better, and hopefully it wipes it out completely."

Teixeira has 18 home runs and 14 doubles on the season, batting .251 with 49 RBIs.

The first baseman said that structurally his neck is fine and that if it had been something serious, he wouldn't have been able to consistently play through it as long as he has, with the exception of Monday and Tuesday. Teixeira was also held out of the lineup on Wednesday against the Marlins.

"Something just kind of jarred it. Probably a dive or something," Teixeira said. "Weird play at first, weird dive in the field, a weird slide, I just woke up with it one morning."

He indicated that the fact that it has been nearly a two-week issue was the reason for the MRI.

"It's been an issue for two weeks now. That's too long," Teixeira said. "Usually if you have a stiff neck, some spasms, they go away after a couple days. After two weeks, you want to get an MRI. It showed some irritation in the joint, so we got it fixed."

He also said he doesn't think his neck injury will land him on the disabled list.

"No, this should be better in a couple days," he said.