Matt Carpenter‘s hoped-for comeback with the Yankees may have ended prematurely Monday.
Carpenter broke his left foot in the first inning after fouling off an 89 mph slider from Mariners starter Logan Gilbert. He’s out indefinitely.
He was placed on the injured list for 10-days on Tuesday, and Miguel Andujar was recalled from Triple-A Scranton.
Carpenter was checked briefly by manager Aaron Boone after hobbling in pain, but he struck out swinging on the next pitch. He admitted that he knew something was wrong, but he believed he could finish and drive in a run.
Carpenter, who was wearing a protective boot in the Yankees’ clubhouse after the game, said he hopes to be out for only a month. However, a timetable will not be established until he consults with a foot specialist.
When Boone checked on Carpenter in the clubhouse between innings, he noticed something was not right and he realized a change was required.
In the third inning, Tim Locastro took Carpenter’s place at DH. The Yankees went on to win 9-4, snapping a season-low 5-game losing streak.
Carpenter is batting .305 with 15 HR and 37 RBIs in this season, and he has reached base in 27 of his 35 starts. He hit .356 in 73 at-bats last month.
This after hitting 7 HR in 418 plate appearances the previous 2 seasons.
Carpenter has a .727 slugging percentage since making his Yankees debut on May 26, the best in MLB during that time. With Carpenter in the lineup, New York has 6.5 runs per game in an average.
Carpenter entered Monday’s game after an emotional series against his former team, the St. Louis Cardinals. Carpenter received a lengthy standing ovation before his first at-bat and finished the series at St. Louis 2-for-12.
His is the Yankees’ most recent significant injury. Last month, Luis Severino, Giancarlo Stanton, Michael King, and Miguel Castro, all went down with injuries.
With a broken right elbow, King will be out for the rest of the season, while Severino and Castro are also on the IL for 60-days. Stanton is on a 10-day IL for left Achilles tendinitis, which started on July 24.
With a 71-39 record, New York leads the AL East by 112 games.
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