Sore calf sidelines Damon, Sabathia ready for light bullpen session

Damon held out of lineup, Sabathia hopeful

ATLANTA — Left fielder Johnny Damon was held out of the New York Yankees’ lineup with a sore right calf Tuesday night against the Atlanta Braves.

Ace CC Sabathia, however, believes his left biceps will heal in time for his next scheduled start Friday against the Mets. New York manager Joe Girardi still isn’t convinced Sabathia will be ready.

The Yankees do not have a probable starter for Friday at Citi Field.

“I think there will be a lot of people breathing sighs of relief (if Sabathia can pitch),” Girardi said.

Damon, who was injured while tracking a flyball Saturday at Florida, hopes to return when New York continues a three-game series Wednesday in Atlanta. He walked in a pinch-hitting appearance Sunday against the Marlins, but left the game for a pinch runner.

“It’s better than where it was on Sunday,” Damon said. “They’re going to sit me today, have me move around some out there. If I go out there and push it, I could be out for a while.”

Sabathia, the 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner, left in the second inning Sunday in Florida with tightness in the biceps. He hopes a light bullpen session Wednesday will give him a gauge for how he feels.

For Sabathia, a normal bullpen session constitutes about 45 pitches. This one will be between 20-25.

He has iced his elbow the last three days and underwent ultrasound and stimulus therapies.

“Just a little bit of tired arm, I guess,” Sabathia said. “Just one of those things. I’m sure I’ll feel fine. I think after tomorrow I’ll be ready. It’s one of those things through the course of the season you feel on side days.”

Sabathia led the majors last season with 253 innings pitched. This year, he ranks fourth in the AL with 102 innings.

“I think my work load has been the same for the last three years,” he said.

Sabathia, who signed a $161 million, seven-year contract with New York after spending 2008 with Cleveland and Milwaukee, was glad catcher Jorge Posada noticed his discomfort Sunday.

“If he hadn’t said something, I would have pitched through it,” Sabathia said. “(But) it’s just a biceps.”

Sabathia is 6-4 with a 3.71 ERA.

Damon knew he was injured Saturday when he fell in the outfield and the bottom of his right foot popped straight up.

“That’s when the pain came,” said Damon, who’s hitting .280 with 14 homers and 40 RBIs. “I had plans of coming in and playing today, but they don’t like the fact that I still feel something. So I have to listen to them and understand and try to go out there and see how it feels. If it’s something that is going to hinder me, every movement I want to do, I’ll reassess it.”

Melky Cabrera replaced Damon in left field.

Girardi was encouraged that Damon wanted to take batting practice, but that wasn’t enough to pencil him in the lineup.

“The fact that he feels it, I don’t think you can test it in BP the way you would in a game,” Girardi said. “When you have something like that, what you always think of is the explosion.”

Outfielder Xavier Nady, who missed his 61st game this season with a right elbow injury, threw from 150 feet before the game.

“It’s realistic to think about some time next week,” Girardi said regarding Nady’s return from the disabled list.

Anything to spark the offense is fine with Girardi. The Yankees entered Tuesday’s game having lost two straight and four of five. In the four losses, they scored a total of eight runs.

New York was 2-16 when scoring three runs or less, 6-19 when their opponents have more hits.

“We haven’t put a lot of streaks together,” Girardi said, “and that’s been one of the reasons we’ve lost games.”

Girardi added that New York hopes to bring back infielder Cody Ransom, who’s out with a strained right quadriceps, from the DL on Wednesday.