ANAHEIM, CALIF. (AP) - Two New York Yankees catchers made their first major league appearances behind home plate Sunday.
Jesus Montero, a 21-year-old who made his major league debut on Sept. 1, started at catcher ibn a 6-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels. He was replaced in the seventh inning by 22-year-old Austin Romine, who had never before played in the big leagues.
Montero had been limited to seven games at designated hitter and Yankees manager Joe Girardi has said he was reluctant to put him behind the plate because he hadn’t caught big league pitchers since spring training.
But Francisco Cervelli has been sidelined by concussion-like symptoms since a home plate collision with Baltimore’s Nick Markakis on Thursday, and Russell Martin left Saturday night’s game because of a bruised right thumb sustained on a third-inning foul tip.
Five-time All-Star Jorge Posada had replaced Martin on Saturday night, his first catching appearance since last season.
Montero, known for his bat more than his defense, struck out all three times he batted Sunday. Romine, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre , is a brother of Angels infielder Andrew Romine.
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