Minnesota Twins star Byron Buxton left their 6-1 win over the New York Yankees early on Sunday with a hip injury.
Buxton tried to steal second base twice in the first inning after he hit an infield single to reach first. His initial attempt was ruined after Cody Clemens fouled off a pitch. But Buxton tried later in the at-bat and was successfully tagged out by Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe. It marked the first time that Buxton had been caught stealing in his last 38 tries.
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While it didn’t seem like anything major at the time, Buxton did look a bit uncomfortable as he got up and started walking back to the dugout. He was then replaced by rookie Kyler Fedko, and did not return.
Buxton has already been dealing with a right hip injury, and he missed four straight games due to right hip impingement before returning on Saturday. He said it felt “a little sore” after the game, but that he was just trying to be smart.
“It’s just one of those things where I don’t want to set myself back farther, just in case I was trying to push through it or whatever the situation was,” Buxton said, via The Associated Press. “I don’t want to put the team in a bad spot by me trying to go out there and be Superman by trying to play one game and I end up missing a month.”
Buxton, who was named a starter in the All-Star game on Saturday, holds a .271 batting average with 25 home runs and 45 RBI so far this season.
Joe Ryan had nine strikeouts while throwing seven scoreless innings on Sunday at Yankee Stadium to help lead the Twins to the five-run win. The Twins beat the Yankees 11-4 on Saturday, too, and have now won their first series at Yankee Stadium since 2014. The win on Sunday pushed them to 44-47 on the season. They sit in third in the AL Central standings, just 3.5 games out of first.
