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April 21, 2013Saturday night was full of joy for the Cleveland Indians en route to a dominant 19-6 win in Houston that snapped a five-game losing streak — but the team still was dealt a slight blow in the injury column at Minute Maid Park.
Starting shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera left the game following two plate appearances (a one-out single to left and an inning-ending groundout) in the top of the first inning when Cleveland stormed out to a 8-0 lead. Backup Mike Aviles replaced him in the field in the bottom half of the frame, then went 2-for-4 over the duration of the contest.
According to a report from Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer, Cabrera suffered his wrist injury before the game when he fell down the dugout stairs. X-rays were negative. Manager Terry Francona was one of the first people to help Cabrera up from his fall. The shortstop was ruled as out for Sunday’s 2:10 p.m. series finale.
Cabrera’s injury is the latest in a variety of ailments to already plague the Tribe in 2013. Among the other 25-man roster players to also be injured in the first three weeks: Scott Kazmir, Jason Giambi, Carlos Santana, Jason Kipnis, Michael Bourn and Brett Myers. The first four all have returned to action, while Bourn is on the DL retroactive to April 15 and Myers, who announced his flexor tendinitis yesterday, is returning to Cleveland today for an MRI.
On the season thus far, Cabrera had been one of the bigger reasons for the team’s early offensive struggles. He’s now batting .150 (9-for-60) in 16 contests with two home runs, three RBI, six walks and 18 strikeouts. Most significantly, he’s been ridiculed for batting just .053 (1-for-19) with runners in scoring position. Maybe a few extra days off could help him get back into a positive rhythm as well.
[Related: Astros 3, Indians 2: Struggles continue in clutch situations]
4 Comments
I guess if there was ever a good time to have an injury this would be it. Plug in Aviles and lets play ball.
Assuming “play ball” means not having other players fall down dugout stairs and bruise their wrist … then YES. LET’S PLAY.
Cabrera was probably still excited from his first inning hit that he didn’t pay attention. Or Aviles pushed him.
It reportedly happened just before the game, actually. Cabrera tried to give it a go in that first inning, but it was too irritated.