Johnny Damon's injured left shoulder was wrapped tightly and the New York Yankees outfielder admitted to having some pills to dull the pain.

One day after he crashed into the left-field wall on a strange triple, Damon sounded resigned to the fact he might be headed for the first DL stint of his 14-season major league career.

"It means a lot," Damon said of his run avoiding the disabled list, "but if I can't go out there and help the team I understand the decision."

Damon sprained and bruised his shoulder trying to track down Kevin Youkilis' line drive in the third inning of New York's 6-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Friday.

Damon raced back, jumped and gloved the ball, but lost it when he crashed into the fence. It popped out of the webbing of his glove, bounced up off the top of the wall and came to rest briefly on the fence.

The ball paused for a moment before rolling back onto the field. Youkilis cruised into third with a tying two-run triple as Damon threw the ball into the infield before leaving the game.

Crosby latest on disabled list for Oakland: Oakland shortstop Bobby Crosby went on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring, giving the Athletics seven players on the DL.

Royals' Guillen gets into heated exchange with coach: Volatile Kansas City outfielder Jose Guillen got into a heated clubhouse exchange with pitching coach Bob McClure.

Guillen and McClure argued face to face, but no punches were thrown. Guillen, who unleashed a tirade against his teammates in May, declined to comment on the incident and started against Tampa Bay.

It was the third locker-room altercation in the majors in the last 10 days — none of them pitted player vs. player. Pitcher Shawn Chacon threw down Houston general manager Ed Wade and Boston slugger Manny Ramirez reportedly shoved traveling secretary Jack McCormick.

Guillen was sitting at a table by his locker when he toppled over a chair and made a comment in Spanish. After a teammate attempted to calm him down, Guillen appeared to get more agitated, tossed over another chair and said, "Coaches don't need to be all up in our ... business."

McClure, who was sitting at his locker, turned around and said, "Jose, if you're talking about me, then you need to shut ... up."

Guillen then knocked over another chair, yelled at McClure and confronted the coach.

Guillen told McClure he wasn't talking about him and wasn't being disrespectful toward the coach. Guillen added he didn't appreciate McClure telling him to be quiet.

Guillen was suspended by the Angels for the last two weeks of the 2004 regular season and postseason for inappropriate conduct after expressing his displeasure with manager Mike Scioscia. After the year, Guillen was traded to the Washington Nationals.