New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo left his team’s loss early Sunday to the Boston Red Sox after an awkward collision while running the bases.
He is now expected to miss up to six weeks.
Rizzo suffered a fracture to the radial neck of his right arm on Sunday evening in Boston. According to the report, he will not require surgery, but he is expected to miss four to six weeks. With Rizzo gone, the Yankees will likely move third baseman DJ LeMahieu to first and send Oswaldo Cabrera to third.
Rizzo hit a ground ball in the seventh inning of the 9-3 loss and immediately fled to first base. As he reached the bag, he collided with Red Sox reliever Brennan Bernardino and landed awkwardly on his right wrist – which he immediately grabbed as he rolled into the grass.
Rizzo was safe, as Bernardino dropped the toss just before contact, but was quickly taken out of the game. He was replaced by pinch-runner Cabrera.
“We’ll see,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Sunday night. ‘The first imaging… was negative, but he has pain in a number of places in his forearm. Obviously he’s going to have a lot of tests tomorrow to see what we’re dealing with.
Rizzo, 34, has a .223 batting average and has eight home runs and 28 RBI this season, his third full year with the Yankees. Sunday’s injury was reminiscent of the one he suffered last year when he collided with Fernando Tatis Jr. at first base. As a result, his season ended prematurely due to post-concussion syndrome.
Although the Yankees trailed by just one run when Rizzo left the game, the Red Sox flew ahead and took a six-run victory 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 last four, have a 50-24 record and lead the AL East. They kick off a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.
