Green hoping elbow injury doesn't prove serious

BALTIMORE -- The Yankees are preparing to send Chad Green for an MRI examination on Saturday morning, and it will likely be a sleepless night for the rookie right-hander, who said that the possibility of Tommy John surgery is on his mind.
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't, but I'm hoping it's nothing serious," said Green, who exited in the second inning of the Yankees' 8-0 loss to the Orioles with tightness in his pitching elbow. "I never had any problems before. I'll just see what happens."
Green was charged with four runs in the second inning, including a two-run homer to designated hitter Pedro Álvarez that landed on Eutaw Street.

Green said that he mentioned the tightness to shortstop Didi Gregorius, who signaled to the dugout after Green issued a two-out walk to Manny Machado. Manager Joe Girardi and head athletic trainer Steve Donohue visited the mound, with Donohue escorting Green to the clubhouse.
"I think when they examined him, there was some soreness," Girardi said. "What he told us on the mound was he just felt like he couldn't get extension. It's really unfortunate. It's not what we needed, but you have to overcome it and move on."
It was the eighth Major League start for the Yankees' No. 21-ranked prospect, who was relieved by right-hander Nick Goody. The righty reliever proceeded to allow consecutive homers to the first two batters he faced, putting the Yanks in a 6-0 hole.
Green is 2-4 with a 4.73 ERA in 12 games (eight starts) this season. If Green is unable to make his next turn in the rotation, Girardi said that right-handers Bryan Mitchell and Luis Severino would be candidates to step in.
"We've got to talk about it, how we're going to proceed," Girardi said. "There are some options, I think."
Severino, who was recalled Friday, worked a scoreless inning with a strikeout, while Mitchell started for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, throwing 91 pitches over 5 1/3 innings while holding Buffalo to a run and four hits. Mitchell walked none and struck out six.
"We have to do what we think is best in the short-term here, because we have a month left," Girardi said.