Yankees lose both Teixeira, Judge to injury on Friday night

Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira was removed in the sixth inning of Friday night's game against the Indians due to knee soreness, according to Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media.

Teixeira left game bc it was a blowout. Knee was sore, but could have played, he said. Likely day off tomorrow #Yankees

— Brendan Kuty (@BrendanKutyNJ) July 9, 2016

Teixeira, who suffered torn cartilage in his right knee on June 3, would've remained in the game if the score was close, according to manager Joe Girardi, but the 36-year-old isn't expected to be in Saturday's lineup after playing four consecutive games. “We want to protect this thing and make sure I don’t need surgery and miss the rest of the season,” Teixeira told the New York Post. “I am going to play with a level of soreness all year, and we understand that. If there is an opportunity to get me off my feet after three or four [games] in a row, we took that opportunity today.” Since returning from the disabled list on June 25, Teixeira has hit .208 with four home runs and seven runs batted in. To add injury to insult, the Yankees received another scare on Friday, as top-rated prospect Aaron Judge left in the fifth inning of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's 7-5 victory over Rochester with left knee soreness, according Shane Hennigan of the Times Shamrock.

Al Pedrique said Aaron Judge has a sore left knee. He said Judge felt "a little pop." Also said Judge did not want to be taken out. — Shane Hennigan (@RailRidersTT) July 9, 2016

Judge, who was named the International League's Player of the Month in June, came up limping after grounding out to short, and was removed from play under manager Al Pedrique's discretion. While the injury doesn't appear to be significant, the 24-year-old farmhand is expected to be sidelined during the All-Star break, despite being selected for the Triple-A Home Run Derby and All-Star Game this upcoming week.