TORONTO — Joey Gallo didn’t play for a second straight game Monday after leaving Saturday’s win over Kansas City with tightness in his left groin.
After the Yankees beat the Blue Jays, 3-2, Aaron Boone said Gallo was only available in an emergency situation and they would evaluate how he’s feeling on Tuesday to determine whether he’ll be able to play.
Boone didn’t rule out playing Gallo against the Blue Jays this series, although the artificial turf at Rogers Centre would likely play a role in his decision-making.
“A little bit, but I’ll listen to him and the trainers and decide where he’s at with the groin and make a decision,’’ Boone said. “The turf won’t completely scare me off.”
And even though it might be easier to sit a player at this point of the year, Boone said Gallo would have been out regardless of the situation.
“I think he would have sat the last couple days no matter the part of the season,’’ Boone said. “You don’t want to mess with the groin.”
The Yankees haven’t made a roster move for Gallo, who is still considered day-to-day, but they did bring along Miguel Andujar on the taxi squad — which remains an option after its introduction because of teams dealing with COVID.
Andujar was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after Sunday’s win over the Royals, as teams had to trim rosters from 28 players to 26.
But unlike right-hander Clarke Schmidt, who will pitch for SWB whenever he’s ready, the Yankees chose to bring Andujar — who had a pair of singles in his first start of the season on Sunday — to Toronto as a one-man taxi squad.
Teams can still have a taxi squad of up to five players on the road, provided one of them is a catcher.
This is the first time this season the Yankees have had one.
Boone said the move came because of the “uncertainty around Joey Gallo.”
With Gallo out of the lineup, Aaron Hicks started in left field, with Aaron Judge in center and Giancarlo Stanton in right.
Boone said he intended to start Judge in all three games in Toronto, despite the unforgiving turf in the outfield.
That’s why he sat Judge in one game and played him as a DH in another in Kansas City over the weekend.
With Aroldis Chapman unavailable after pitching the previous two games, Boone went with Chad Green to close Monday’s win and the right-hander was excellent in picking up his first save of the season.
“I felt I finally had a little rhythm and it was coming out good,’’ said Green, who has had an uneven start to the year.
“That’s about as good as he’s thrown this year,’’ Boone said. “Command-wise his fastball was exactly where he wanted it to be.”
Boone said he’s being cautious with Josh Donaldson, given the 36-year-old’s history of leg injuries. Donaldson was the DH Monday night and has been hitting well of late, going 5-for-17 with two doubles and a pair of walks in his previous five games. … Isiah Kiner-Falefa entered Monday having reached base in 13 consecutive games, going 16-for-43, with 10 runs, three doubles and seven RBIs. The stretch comes after Kiner-Falefa snapped a 1-for-17 slide.
The Yankees have to face right-hander Alek Manoah on Tuesday. He is not only developing into one of the best pitchers in the American League, but a potential Yankee killer.
In three career starts against the Yankees, Manoah is 2-0 with a 1.53 ERA in 17 innings. Most recently, Manoah tossed six shutout innings in The Bronx on April 11.