Randy Johnson to the DL?

[Maxman]

Big worry: Unit to miss next start

BY SAM BORDEN

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Randy Johnson was scratched from tomorrow's scheduled start with a tight left groin, and GM Brian Cashman said last night that a stint on the disabled list for the 41-year-old lefty can't be ruled out.

"We hope it will just be one start, but if he needs more time we'll give it to him," Cashman said.

Sean Henn, a lefty who is 2-1 with a 0.71 ERA for Double-A Trenton, will be called up to start in Johnson's place.

"He's been the guy who's pitching the best," Cashman said. "We'll give him a chance and see how it goes."

The Unit tweaked the groin in the ninth inning of Friday's outing, when he pitched a complete game against the Blue Jays but was outdueled by Roy Halladay in a 2-0 loss. Johnson was visited on the mound by trainers, but said afterward that he wasn't concerned.

Yesterday, however, when he went out to throw, the groin tightened up and the Yanks scratched him, Joe Torre said, wanting to take extra precaution with their ace.

"We just want to make sure he gets right," Torre said

Johnson's fitness routine is legendary and his left arm is surely younger than his age. But he has been creaky at times, so the Yanks understandably are being cautious. They held him back in spring training when he suffered a minor calf injury and likely would put him on the disabled list if he were going to miss more than one start to ease their roster crush.

The injury comes at a time when Johnson was starting to round into the form the Bombers expect of him. After a dazzling performance on Opening Night against Boston, the Unit had three so-so starts before putting together a key outing against the Rangers on April 24 and then his hard-luck showing against Toronto on Friday.

He is 2-2 with a 3.74 ERA, but has demonstrated his ability to thrive even without his best fastball, incorporating his devastating slider and deceptive splitter; in 43-1/3 innings, he's struck out 43 batters

"We just want to make sure Randy can be Randy," Torre said. "At this point, skipping him this turn seems like the right thing to do

[Jet/BosoxFan]

Yankee haters everywhere just experienced some stiffness in the groin area upon reading this!

Hmmm...whose fault is this?

a. George Steinbrenner, for signing a geriatric ace

b. Mel S for not closely monitoring RJ's mechanics

c. JonEJinx...for all the threads rejoicing in the Wells/Schilling injuries thereby damning RJ from day one to suffer an injury???

If you guessed "c" you're learning