Astros' Springer hurts hamstring, likely to land on IL
American League home run and RBI leader George Springer probably is headed to the injured list after hurting his left hamstring Friday, Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch said.
Springer pulled up on an unsuccessful attempt to run down an eighth-inning foul ball off the bat of the Boston Red Sox's Xander Bogaerts in Houston.
Springer limped out of the game, and Tony Kemp took his place.
After the Astros closed out a 4-3 win, Hinch said of Springer, "We'll get him evaluated. I'm not looking forward to the diagnosis, to be honest. It doesn't look very good. He never pulls himself out of a game like that. He was limping from the very beginning. ... Our best team has George Springer in the leadoff spot."
Springer added, "Going for the ball, giving it as much as I can, and the hamstring locked up. Honestly, don't have anything more than that. Just will have to see what happens and hope for the best. ...
"It sucks, to be honest. It's hard, but I'll make it through. I've just got to support the team the best way I can."
After going 0-for-3 with a sacrifice fly on Friday, Springer is batting .308 with 17 homers and 43 RBIs.
He has a two-homer lead in the AL on teammate Alex Bregman as well as the New York Yankees' Gary Sanchez, the Minnesota Twins' Eddie Rosario and the Texas Rangers' Joey Gallo. Rosario is second in the league with 42 RBIs.
The 2017 World Series Most Valuable Player, Springer is a two-time All-Star in six major league seasons, all with Houston. He has a career average of .268 with a .359 on-base percentage, a .480 slugging percentage, 138 homers and 373 RBIs in 670 games.
--Field Level Media
