NEW YORK -- In one corner, Orlando Hernandez sat silently by himself. Across the way, Jorge Posada quietly got dressed.

	Posada

	Hernandez

All was calm in the clubhouse Sunday, a day after El Duque threw a punch at his catcher in a rare fight between New York Yankees teammates.

In fact, manager Joe Torre said it was the first time he could recall a scuffle in his locker room since taking over the team in 1996.

"It's not ideal, it's not an everyday occurrence. But everything's handled," he said. "It's far from the Bronx Zoo."

Certainly, it's nothing like the Billy Martin vs. Reggie Jackson craziness of the 1970s Yankees. And this one wasn't nearly as visible as the dugout skirmish between San Francisco Giants stars Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent this season.

What started as yet another argument between Hernandez and Posada less than an hour before Saturday's game against the Chicago White Sox suddenly erupted. One eyewitness said Hernandez threw a right-handed punch that connected with Posada's head, but it did not appear to be a huge blow.

Posada caught all nine innings in an 8-1 loss Saturday, and there were no marks on his face before Sunday's game.

"There were no punches thrown," Posada said, though his playful smile seemed to indicate otherwise. "We pushed each other.

"We're good, we're friends," he said. "We took care of it."

Hernandez, through a translator, only said, "I don't have any comment."

The teammates talked to each other later Saturday, and Torre met with them together Sunday.

"You talk it out, you move on," Torre said. "You're not going to get along all the time."

Torre said he didn't see any need to discipline the players, and said Posada would catch Hernandez on Tuesday night at Tampa Bay.

"It's already behind us," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said.

Even though Posada has long caught Hernandez, they rarely appear to be on the same page. They often disagree on what pitches to throw, and frequently get angry at each other in the dugout.

Torre recalled a scene in Cleveland a few years ago where Hernandez and Posada were screaming on the bench during a game and later headed out to dinner.

"They're two passionate people," Torre said.

Posada said this latest dispute with El Duque did not have anything to do with baseball, though the discussion might've started out that way with some leftover business.

In his last start, Hernandez was called for a ball when he licked his fingers on the mound. That call resulted in ball four and startled Hernandez.

Torre said the plate umpire had told Posada earlier in the game that Hernandez couldn't go to his mouth. Though Posada later spoke to the pitcher in the dugout, "he may not have made a point of it."

The scuffle took place a week after Yankees pitcher David Wells was attacked in a Manhattan diner. Wells was not disciplined after the late-night altercation, and won in his next start.

Torre, a master at quelling clubhouse problems before they become major problems, did not think this bump would bother the AL East leaders.

"David Wells doing what he did, that's a distraction and it didn't affect anything," Torre said.