Neither Mark Teixeira nor Joe Girardi could give any firm estimate of when Teixeira will return to the Yankees lineup after he aggravated the left calf strain that had already cost him 10 games on the controversial last play of Saturday night's loss to the Orioles. In fact, Teixeira acknowledged the possibility that he could be done for the remaining 22 games of the regular season.

Asked if he was confident he would play again this year, Teixeira said, "I don't know."

"I am confident that I'm going to work as hard as I can to try to play again, but I have no idea when," Teixeira said. "I wish I had a crystal ball. I think 10-14 days is a general idea. The last time I came back at 12 and it was too early. Everyone's different. I'm a big guy so maybe with me, the amount of weight on my calf, is different than a guy who weighs 50 pounds less than me. I don't really know what 10-14 means because 12 didn't work last time."

Girardi said he believed Teixeira's injury, classified as a Grade 1 strain, would be fully healed by the time the postseason begins on Oct. 6. But he qualified that by saying he was sure three weeks would be enough healing time as long as Teixeira did not play any more regular season games.

"I said when he came back that I was still concerned," Girardi said. "Because that initial step that you have to take, that explosive step, you know a lot of that comes from your calf. So until you get through a few days, no matter how long you give him off, I think I’m going to be concerned."

Teixeira will remain with the team during his recovery period. "There's not really much I can do besides ice it and rest," he said. "But I wanted to be around to support the guys."