Girardi Missing Yankees Game Friday To Attend Daughter's Graduation
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Yankees won't have their leader in the dugout Friday night.
Manager Joe Girardi is skipping the Yankees' road game against the Tampa Bay Rays so that he can attend his daughter Serena's high school graduation.
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Bench coach Rob Thomson will take Girardi's place. Thomson served as a fill-in manager in 2008 when Girardi missed two games due to an illness and another because of a suspension.
The Yankees enter the three-game series with a 24-14 record -- tops in the American League East and second best in all of baseball.
Yankees right-hander Luis Severino (2-2) will square off against Rays righty Erasmo Ramirez (2-0) in Friday night's game. Third baseman Chase Headley, whose batting average has plummeted from .307 to .248 over the past two weeks, is out of the lineup. Ronald Torreyes will start in his place.