Mark Teixeira heads to DL with articular cartilage tear

BALTIMORE -- New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeirawas put on the disabled list Saturday with a right knee injury.

Teixeira was diagnosed with an articular cartilage tear after the Yankees'6-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioleson Friday night. He left the game prior to the bottom of the third inning after experiencing right knee discomfort and was later sent to a hospital for an MRI.

"It's been sore and swollen for about two-and-a-half weeks, but I've played with knee pain the last 10 years of my whole career," Teixeira said on Saturday. "You don't really think anything of it. You treat it and you ice it and you do the things that you always do. Nothing feels good right now. My body just hasn't worked right this year."

Teixeira said he still hopes to play this year, but when asked about his expressed desire to play another five years after his Yankees contract runs out at the end of the 2016 season, he said, "I want to play five more games right now. That is the farthest from my mind, really. I'm always honest with you guys. I just want to help this team win this year. Whatever happens after this year will kind of take care of itself, but right now, five years from now is the least of my worries."

This is the latest in a series of injuries that have limited Teixeira's playing time the past four seasons. Last week, Teixeira missed four games because of a neck injury that was treated with a cortisone shot. A broken leg in 2015 cost him 51 games, and he missed all but 15 games in 2013 after undergoing surgery on the tendon sheath in his right wrist.

''Obviously the important thing is to get his knee healthy now. He'll see Dr. (Chris) Ahmad Monday. But the plan right now is to be conservative,'' manager Joe Girardi said before Saturday's game.

Teixeira, 36, is struggling. He has a .179 batting average and just three hits in his past 43 at-bats. He grounded out in the second inning. He has just three home runs this season and has not hit one since April 13, a span of 141 at-bats.

The Yankees called upChris Parmeleeto take Teixeira's place on the roster. Earlier this week, the Yankees lost backup first baseman Dustin Ackleyfor the season with a dislocated shoulder.

Rookie Robert Refsnyder, who has played most of his games at second base and in the outfield, took over at first base Friday night and was hitless in three at-bats.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.