• Tex getting closer: Mark Teixeira, recovering from a left calf strain, did some light jogging on a treadmill today and said he hopes to play sat some point during the critical four-game weekend series with the Orioles, although he said he doubted he would be ready for the opener Thursday night in Baltimore. "I won't know until I really run on the field," he said. "Running on the treadmill is not really a test, unless I hit a home run every time up, which would be great."

• Nova, too: Ivan Nova threw about 20 pitches in a simulated game to a couple of teammates on the field at the Trop this afternoon, and declared his sore right shoulder pain-free. "I feel really good today," he said. "We'll see how it feels tomorrow and then the manager is going to make a decision." Nova went on the DL on Aug. 23 with inflammation of the right rotator cuff and is eligible to come off on Friday.

"I thought his arm strength was good, and whenever you have tendinitis, that's what's you're concerned about," Joe Girardi said. "I told him this: 'I want to make sure you feel OK tomorrow before we decide what's next.'"

• Grandy Man back: Curtis Granderson, who missed two games with some tightness in his right hamstring, returns to the lineup and to center field tonight, but perhaps most surprisingly, is back in the two-hole, where Nick Swisher excelled for 25 games after being moved there Aug. 8.

"I think he's pain-free, but I still think you have to keep an eye on him," Girardi said of Granderson. "And I'll probably check with him a couple of times during the game to see if he's OK."

As for the lineup shift, Girardi said it had to do with "all the lefties being stacked. It's not what you want."

• Andy to face hitters: Andy Pettitte will throw either a simulated game or live BP against a couple of TBD teammates before tomorrow night's game. "All I know is there will be a hitter in there," Girardi said. "I'm not sure what he'll be doing."

• Itch scratched: Ichiro Suzuki, in a 6-for-27 slide, gets a seat on the bench tonight in favor of Chris Dickerson, who will start in right. "I just felt that Ich needed a day," Girardi said. "He's been going hard, and he's a little bit beat up, and I just felt that he needed a day. And Dickerson has played well."