R.A. Dickey Left With Tightness In Glute

New York (AP) - The Mets were hit with another injury when knuckleballer R.A. Dickey was pulled because of tightness in his buttocks.

Rain fell much of the morning and the start was pushed back by 89 minutes, though it hardly drizzled during the delay. Yankees manager Joe Girardi intercepted the umpires as they walked out onto the field and engaged them in a discussion that lasted a few minutes.

By the time Dickey was ready to go, Garcia had just begun to walk in from the bullpen. So everyone waited while Garcia crossed the outfield and Dickey took some extra warmup tosses.

In the fifth inning the Yankees tied up the score. Robinson Cano led off with a double for the first hit off Dickey, and Nick Swisher followed with an RBI single. An error by second baseman Justin Turner helped the Yankees load the bases, but Dickey escaped when Granderson grounded out on a full-count pitch.

Dickey crouched by the mound as Turner fielded the one-hopper and threw to first, perhaps breathing a sigh of relief. But the right-hander never threw another pitch.

He was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the inning and the Mets later announced that Dickey slipped on a fourth-inning pitch and felt tightness over his left glute.