Yankees' 'Big Unit' has herniated disc

NEW YORK -- Yankees lefty Randy Johnson has a herniated disc in his lower back, an injury that could prevent him from pitching in the playoffs next week.

The injury was discovered during an MRI exam this week and Johnson received an epidural injection Friday.

"Hopefully that will ease the discomfort," New York manager Joe Torre said. "If it doesn't ease the discomfort, I'm not sure he's going to be able to pitch. But we don't expect that to be the case."

Johnson has a 7.64 ERA over his last three starts, giving up five runs each outing and failing to last longer than six innings. He is 17-11 this season with a career-high 5.00 ERA.

Chien-Ming Wang and Mike Mussina will pitch the opening two games of the best-of-five series against Detroit or Minnesota. Johnson is scheduled to pitch Game 3 on the road next Friday.

-- The Associated Press