The Texas Rangers didn't only lose a baseball game on Tuesday afternoon. They also lost Josh Hamilton, who had to be removed after sliding hard into home in the top of the first inning.
Josh Hamilton Sustains Shoulder Injury Sliding Home
Hamilton broke for home from third on a pop-up when the Tigers didn't have anybody covering the plate. Victor Martinez sprinted over to apply a tag, and as Hamilton dove to avoid Martinez's glove, he hit the ground and hurt himself, getting up holding his back. Hamilton went at the urging of his third base coach, and wasn't too pleased after the game:
“It was just a stupid play,” Hamilton said. “I definitely shouldn’t have done it. They had a good angle to cut me off where I was going. It was a little too aggressive. The whole time I was watching the play and I was listening. I was like, ‘Dude, I don’t want to go. Something is going to happen.’ But I listened to my coach and I went.”
The good news is that preliminary x-rays on Hamilton’s shoulder have ruled out a separation or a dislocation, but Hamilton says he heard two pops as he slid, and we probably won’t know the severity of his injury until MRI results are revealed Wednesday morning. After the game, Hamilton was wearing a sling.
Hamilton was already scheduled to get the day off on Wednesday, and the Rangers don't play Thursday. However, if his injury is bad enough that he has to go on the DL, expect the Rangers to recall either Craig Gentry or Chris Davis from the minors.
See More:
