NEW YORK (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays All-Star first baseman Jonathan Aranda will miss time with a left wrist injury after he collided with New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton while reaching for an errant throw Thursday.
After his team's 7-4 loss in a game interrupted by rain, Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said preliminary X-rays were inconclusive and Aranda will undergo further testing on Friday before the Rays host the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Crushing,” Cash said. “Crushing for Jonny and crushed for us.”
Stanton hit a soft grounder in the fifth inning to third baseman Junior Caminero, who charged in on wet grass to field the ball. Aranda reached for Caminero's wide toss that sailed into the runner, and his left wrist appeared to hit Stanton’s left shoulder.
“It's a play that you rarely do,” Aranda said through an interpreter. “What happened was he was coming, I was going to the ball and I guess we got entangled there. It was one of those rare things."
Aranda fell to the ground in pain and shook his head while on his back. He was tended to by Cash and an athletic trainer before walking off the field.
“Terrible. I never want to be a part of that,” Stanton said. “You never want to see that. I don’t know the full diagnosis but I hope he’s all right.”
Brandon Lowe moved over from second base to replace Aranda at first, and José Caballero entered at second. Caballero was pulled by the Rays in the middle of the seventh because he was traded to the Yankees, so Matt Thaiss finished the game at first.
Aranda is hitting .316 with 12 homers and 54 RBIs in 103 games this season. He hit an RBI single in Tampa Bay’s four-run fourth against Marcus Stroman.
“It was something rare," Aranda said. "I’ve never felt anything like that before, so it was very painful.”
It was the third injury of the day for the Rays, who are 8-20 in their last 28 games.
Designated hitter Yandy Díaz was hit by a pitch in the first and exited with a bruised right forearm. He was replaced by Christopher Morel when his spot in the batting order came up in the fourth.
Díaz is hitting .283 with 18 homers and 62 RBIs in 105 games.
Tampa Bay also lost rookie outfielder Chandler Simpson to an sprained left index finger in the third. Simpson was playing left field and was replaced by Jake Mangum after getting his left hand checked out.
Simpson is hitting .297 with 32 stolen bases in 65 games.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Larry Fleisher, The Associated Press
