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Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee out with sore elbow

 
Published March 9, 2015

PORT CHARLOTTE — Phillies LHP Cliff Lee was temporarily shut down after feeling soreness in his pitching elbow, GM Ruben Amaro said Sunday morning.

Lee had an MRI exam on Friday and was examined by Phillies team physician Michael Ciccotti. Amaro said there was "very mild inflammation" in Lee's elbow. Lee will seek a second opinion from noted orthopedic surgeon James Andrews this week.

"You have to be alarmed, we have to be concerned because it's the same area and he feels something," Amaro said. "It's the same area, the same issues he had last year."

Lee, 36, was limited to 13 starts last season, when he had two stints on the disabled list. He was sidelined for the final two months with a flexor pronator strain.

Considered a potentially valuable trading chip, Lee will miss his scheduled Tuesday start.

"When he does warm up, he feels fine," manager Ryne Sandberg said. "I'm anxious to watch him play catch and see how he progresses the next few days and see if he makes a start from there. There is concern."

Yankees: Tanaka a go

TAMPA — Yankees RHP Masahiro Tanaka is scheduled to make his first exhibition start Thursday night against the Braves.

Manager Joe Girardi made the announcement after Sunday's 3-2 win over the Nationals.

"It's good to see," Girardi said.

Tanaka missed 21/2 months last season while rehabilitating a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

FIRST AT THIRD: Alex Rodriguez made his exhibition debut at third base, cleanly handling his only chance. Rodriguez, the DH in two earlier games, made a nice backhanded grab on Tyler Moore's grounder and threw him out to end the third.

"Game speed is the one thing you can't emulate," said Rodriguez, who has not played a full season since 2007 because of injuries and a year-long suspension. "Being away from the game, that's the hardest thing to adjust to. I'll give it a shot."

Jays: Edge to Sanchez

DUNEDIN — With LHP Brett Cecil sidelined up to 10 days with rotator cuff inflammation, RHP Aaron Sanchez could have an advantage to win the Blue Jays' vacant closer role. But he said he isn't thinking about it that way.

"They're still going to make decisions, obviously," he said after pitching three hitless innings in a 1-0 loss to the Pirates. "It's a decision that's probably not a tough one. But at the end of the day, they're going to be the one that's making the decisions and I'm going to be the one — whether it's starting or closing — is going to be happy. To me, it doesn't matter."

Sanchez posted a 1.09 ERA and three saves in 24 relief appearances after a late July call-up last season.

Sunday, Sanchez struck out three and walked one. In his first exhibition start Wednesday, also against the Pirates, the hard thrower gave up four hits and five runs in 11/3 innings.

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"Going back to my first start, it was more about making sure I felt good, making sure by fastball command was there and that was really the first time I got to face hitters," Sanchez said. "So to get back out there and get my feet wet and then go out there and do what I did today is just something to build off of."