New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo left his team’s loss to the Boston Red Sox early on Sunday after an awkward collision while running the bases.
Rizzo hit a ground ball in the seventh inning of the 9-3 loss and immediately bolted toward first base. As he reached the bag, he collided with Red Sox reliever Brennan Bernardino and landed awkwardly on his right wrist — which he grabbed immediately as he rolled into the grass.
Rizzo was safe, as Bernardino dropped the toss right before the contact, but he was quickly pulled from the game. He was replaced by pinch-runner Oswaldo Cabrera.
Rizzo is set to undergo further testing on Monday. It’s unclear how severe his injury is or how long he’ll be sidelined.
“We’ll see,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “The initial imaging … was negative, but he’s in some pain in that kind of lower arm in a number of places. Obviously, he’ll get a lot of tests tomorrow and see what we’re dealing with.”
Rizzo, 34, holds a .223 batting average and has eight home runs and 28 RBI this season, his third full year with the Yankees. The injury Sunday was reminiscent of one he sustained last year, when he collided with Fernando Tatis Jr. at first base. That ended up ending his season early due to post-concussion syndrome.
Although the Yankees were down by just a run when Rizzo left the game, the Red Sox flew ahead to grab a six-run win at Fenway Park, thanks in part to Connor Wong’s two-run triple in the bottom of the seventh. Boston had an incredible nine stolen bases in the win, the most in the league in a single game this season and the most the Yankees have allowed since 1915.
The Yankees, who have lost three of their past four, hold a 50-24 record and lead the AL East. They’ll kick off a three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.
