Yastrzemski suffers hamstring injury on key play vs. Padres originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
MEXICO CITY — Earlier this week, a few Giants took promotional photos in black Mustache May t-shirts, which will be used to raise awareness for a charitable cause. One of the stars of the campaign might not get to participate for a while.
Mike Yastrzemksi limped off the field after a valiant effort to try and snag what ended up being the game-winner for the San Diego Padres in the eighth inning on Sunday. After a 6-4 loss at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú, Yastrzemski said he will get an MRI on his hamstring on Monday in Houston. The Giants don’t know the severity of the injury, but that type of strain is generally measured in weeks.
“I’m going to have to probably extend Mustache May into June now,” Yastrzemski said. “We’ll see how it goes. It’s a bummer, but I’m trying to keep the spirits high and see where it goes tomorrow.”
The injury happened with two outs and two on in the eighth inning of a tie game. For the previous 16 innings in Mexico City, it seemed that every ball that got into the air either cleared the fences or drifted back to the track. But as the Giants tried to hold a lead they had all day, the weather cooled a few degrees and the wind started blowing in.
When Matt Carpenter popped a Camilo Doval fastball into center field, Yastrzemski was playing close to the warning track. He burst towards the infield, but he felt his left hamstring grab.
“The second step, I felt a pop in my left hammy,” he said. “I just kind of felt like I was at the point where it already happened, so I might as well try and catch the ball still. I wish things would have gone differently.”
Yastrzemski went into a Superman dive at the end of his sprint, but the ball popped out of his glove as he hit the hardest turf the Giants will play on this season. After the loss, manager Gabe Kapler said he’s sure Yastrzemski would have made the catch had he been healthy. Alex Cobb, who pitched five strong innings, felt that more forgiving turf would have allowed the center fielder to complete the play.
Instead, it went down as a two-run double. Josh Hader closed the Giants out in the ninth, handing them a second straight loss in Mexico City.
It was a wasted opportunity on a day when Cobb allowed three runs and just one homer in the most hitter-friendly park he has ever pitched in. Scott Alexander and John Brebbia got the lead to the eighth, but Tyler Rogers put two on and Carpenter cashed them in after Kapler went to his closer.
The biggest concern at the moment is the health of an outfielder who had a brutal day in the sun and altitude. Yastrzemski slammed into the center field wall in the second to try and catch a drive by Nelson Cruz, with that collision leaving him shaking his arm the rest of the inning as he tried to force elbow pain to dissipate.
“It was a tough day in the outfield for me,” he said a few hours later.
Yastrzemski was 2-for-4 before limping off the field, raising his OPS to .854, just about exactly where it was in a breakout 2019 season. He’s hitting .292 with five homers and is the starting center fielder against right-handed pitchers, a profile that is not easily replaced.
He said he’s hoping for the best, but in the end, while Sunday’s game had a much more normal score, it ended up playing out the coaching staff’s worst nightmare.
RELATED: Giants’ first Mexico City experience ‘unfair’ for pitchers
The Giants knew that playing at 7,300 feet would lead to plenty of homers, and they hit three more on Sunday, finishing with eight over two games.
They also knew the thin air would lead to dehydration and an increased chance of injuries, and the training staff worked overtime for two days to try and prevent any damage.
Each player had his own mini oxygen tank and an IV drip was set up in the clubhouse. Several times Sunday, a trainer ran out with water at the end of an inning to greet a position player who had been standing on base for a while. Cobb had such a hard time rubbing up the dry baseballs that his forearm started to ache, and during a replay review late in the game, he called for a bottle of water.
The Giants lost Brandon Crawford to a calf strain on Saturday, but a day later, Kapler said Crawford was doing “much better than expected” and would be available off the bench. Yastrzemski’s injury was more serious when it happened. As they return to the United States, the Giants are hoping to once again get news that’s better than they expected.
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