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The Yankees losing eight of their last 11 is bad, but that’s at least assuaged by a 6 ½-game lead over the Orioles, 5-4 winners over the Bombers Monday at Yankee Stadium, in the AL East.

If Mark Teixeira’s left wrist injury was more severe than first believed, the blow to the Yankees’ offense would have been excruciating and possibly impacted Brian Cashman’s decisions before the 4 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline, and/or influence him to try his luck via the waiver wire.

However, the Yankees received good news during what's been a bad stretch. Teixeira was examined by Team Physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad along with hand specialist Dr. Melvin Rosenwasser, and underwent an MRI at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Tuesday morning. The team announced that the results showed no structural damage and that Teixeira was diagnosed with inflammation in his left wrist. He was treated with a cortisone injection and will be reevaluated in three days.

Initial X-Rays revealed no breaks, and seeing Teixeira will miss three days minimum, it avoided a scenerio of adding the slugging first-baseman to an injury list already including Alex Rodriguez, Brett Gardner and Andy Pettitte, and delayed the team's plans to acclimate Ichiro Suzuki to left field. The Yankees acquired Ichiro Suzuki last week to fill the void left by Gardner. Suzuki has played his customary right field while Nick Swisher makes a full recovery from a strained hip. Once Swisher returned to right, the plan was to shift Ichiro to left to provide rest for the current platoon of Raul Ibanez (40) and Andruw Jones (35).

Teixeira’s injury puts a monkey wrench into those plans  for the immediate future. Part of the purpose of importing Ichiro was to prevent Ibanez and Jones from fading down the stretch, and provide the defensive prowess not seen out of the duo. For as long as Teixeira is on the shelf, expect Swisher and Eric Chavez to share time at first base, Jayson Nix to receive more time at third, and for Ichiro and Jones/Ibanez to retain their positions.

Of course, Brian Cashman, pessimistic on Monday about making more deals before the deadline, still may be influenced to push for reinforcements. FOX Sports Ken Rosenthal reports the Yankees would like a defensive-minded third baseman. Chase Headley is at or near the top of the Yankees’ wish list, but the same applies to many teams and he may end up staying in San Diego.

Offensively, the Yankees are hoping Teixeira’s bat, which has heated up with the summer, is back in their lineup sooner than later. Teixeira is batting .298 with seven home runs and 27 RBIs in 24 games this month, and .256-20-71 on the season. His injury comes nearly a week after A-Rod’s hand was broken by a pitch, a day after the Yankees dropped two of three to the Red Sox and late in a loss to the Orioles where they had numerous opportunities to put them away.

New York has lost five of its last eight games by one run and is 13-15 this season in one-run games. Despite the excitement of their league-leading 163 home runs, the Yankees are an all-or-nothing offensive team, batting .240 with runners in scoring position and .210 with the bases loaded. Still, there’s little else to complain about a team that owns the best record in the American League and an advantage larger than any other division leader.

Alas, the season is far from over, and the Yankees would have been remiss if they thought they can handle this latest rough stretch without the services of Teixeira, important with the stick and priceless with the glove.

"It is a big concern," Girardi said Monday night. "He is a huge part of our lineup. Hopefully, it is only a couple of days."

YANKEES AFTER DEMPSTER?
Don’t get your hopes up, Yankees fans, but Cubs starter Ryan Dempster (5-5, 2.25) is reportedly on your team’s radar. CSNChicago.com reports the Yankees have stepped up their pursuit Dempster over the last 48 hours.  ESPN’s Jayson Stark contradicts David Kaplan’s report, Tweeting that the Yankees are telling teams they’re not in on the right-hander.

Dempster, a 10-and-5 player, has long been linked to the Dodgers, his probable destination, but would also approve a trade to any team with a chance of winning the World Series.

Follow Jon Lane on Twitter: @JonLaneNYC