Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Lourdes Gurriel extended his unique hitting streak on Sunday, but also injured his left leg and ankle in a win over the White Sox.
Lourdes Gurriel is racking up the hits, but injured his leg
11 straight games with multiple hits is the longest MLB streak in 45 years.
Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Gurriel singled home a run in Toronto’s five-run rally in the eighth inning, but stumbled awkwardly in a belated slide attempt at second base while trying to advance. Gurriel was tagged out on the play to end the inning, but then collapsed in a heap in the infield, holding his left leg.
He walked off the field, mostly under his own power, and was removed from the game.
The Blue Jays said after the game that Gurriel was suffered a left knee contusion and left ankle sprain, and that X-rays showed no fracture in his knee or ankle. Gurriel will have an MRI exam on both his knee and ankle on Monday in Oakland.
There is never a good time for a potential disabled list stint, but for Gurriel this seems incredibly inopportune. The rookie second baseman was 3-for-5 on Sunday, giving him 25 hits in his last 50 at-bats.
Gurriel has an 11-game hitting streak and every game of the streak has featured at least two hits. It’s the longest such streak since Hall of Famer Tony Perez had an 11-game streak for the Big Red Machine in 1973. Dating back to 1908, the only two longer multi-hit streaks were by Rogers Hornsby (13 games in 1923) and Billy Herman (12 games in 1936).
Gurriel, the younger brother of Astros infielder Yuli Gurriel, signed a seven-year, $22 million with Toronto out of Cuba in November 2016. Lourdes Gurriel made his major league debut in April, and the 24-year-old is hitting .322/.340/.540.
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