The Houston Astros lost one of baseball’s best hitters on Monday night when Kyle Tucker exited their game against the St. Louis Cardinals after fouling a pitch off his shin.
The injury came in the bottom of the third when Tucker swung at a 2-0 cutter from Kyle Gibson, hitting the ball just above his leg guard.
Tucker dropped to his hands and knees after the ball bounced off his leg, just below the knee. He remained in that position for several minutes while a trainer and manager, Joe Espada, came onto the field to check on him.
He slowly got to his feet and took a few steps toward first base where he appeared to be limping. He put his batting helmet back on, but soon decided that he couldn’t continue his at-bat
He was replaced by Mauricio Dubon, who worked a walk and came around to score on a home run by Yordan Alvarez.
Tucker said after the game that he was OK.
“We did some X-rays and nothing was broken or anything,” he said. “So I’m sure we’ll do some more stuff tomorrow and whatnot. Right now it’s just kind of hurting but it’s all right, we’ll get through it.”
The two-time All-Star is in the midst of his best season since making his debut in 2018. He entered play Monday with a .974 OPS, is tied for second in MLB with 19 home runs and has stolen nine bases.
In Monday’s game, Tucker collected a single and a stolen base in the first inning.
Despite Tucker’s hot start to the year, the Astros have struggled. They have a 26-34 record and are 7.5 games back of the final AL wild-card spot and the AL West-leading Seattle Mariners.
— With files from The Associated Press
