Just when Jacoby Ellsbury looked to be breaking out, the outfielder was forced out of the Yankees’ game Friday night against the Blue Jays with a strained right hamstring.
Ellsbury, who doubled and homered in his first two at-bats of the 5-3 win, was removed in the fifth inning, leaving manager Joe Girardi fearful the injury might keep his center fielder out for the rest of the season.
“I think that’s a distinct possibility,” said Girardi, as the team waited on the results of an MRI exam. “Anytime a guy comes out and grabs his hamstring, you’re always concerned. … [Jacoby] swung the bat extremely well tonight. He’s been a huge part of our offense. It’s not what you want, but we’ll have to deal with it. It’s all we can do.”
Ellsbury, who entered Friday’s game batting .132 in September, had his second multi-hit game of the month, while matching his RBI total over the past 18 games (three).
With the Yankees trailing 2-0, Ellsbury, 31, led off the bottom-half of the first inning with a double off the top of the wall in right field. He scored the team’s first run on a Brian McCann single two batters later.
Ellsbury then gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead in the third inning with a mammoth two-run homer, blasting a shot off Mark Buehrle several rows into the right-field stands. Ellsbury’s 16th homer of the season was just his second since Aug. 29.
With one out and the bases loaded in the fourth inning, the oft-injured outfielder hustled to beat out a double play and driving in one run. Jose Reyes’ throwing error to first brought home a second run , but Ellsbury’s hustling RBI came at the expense of his hamstring.
“He said it grabbed,” Girardi said. “I’d be surprised if he [plays Saturday]. I’m just hopeful that it’s not much, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
The first-year Yankee attempted to play through the pain, remaining on the field to run, but Girardi pulled Ellsbury from the game following the inning after noticing he wasn’t moving well.
“[Ellsbury] wanted to try and I said, ‘OK, I’ll let you try,’ and I didn’t really like the way that he ran off of second when the pop-up was hit,” Girardi said. “That concerned me and that’s why I took him out.”
After playing in an average of 96 games per season over the past four years with the Red Sox, Ellsbury has played in 149 games with the Yankees this season. He leads the team with 156 hits, 27 doubles and 39 stolen bases.