Former Arkansas Razorback Andrew Benintendi, the rookie left fielder for the Boston Red Sox, left Wednesday night's game against the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla., with what appeared to be an injury to his left ankle and possibly one to his knee.
In the seventh inning, Benintendi, 22, had ventured too far off second base when Dustin Pedroia hit a chopper up the middle with Tampa Bay's infield drawn in. Rays shortstop Matt Duffy fielded the ball and turned to slap a tag on the retreating Benintendi.
Immediately after the tag, Benintendi appeared to catch his foot in the dirt and roll his ankle. His knee appeared to bend in an awkward fashion as well as he crumpled into the dirt. He was on second base after he had slapped a double into the left-field corner.
Benintendi stayed on the ground until Red Sox Manager John Farrell and trainer Brad Pearson arrived to look at the player, who was on his knees near second base. He eventually was helped off the field, putting his weight on both Farrell and Pearson.
Benintendi, who was called up Aug. 2, has hit .324 with an .850 OPS, a .365 on-base percentage and a .485 slugging percentage in his first 21 games with the Red Sox. He hit his first career home run Sunday and has driven in 10 runs. He also has struck out 17 times in 68 at-bats.
He is the seventh left fielder the Red Sox have used this season. If he lands on the DL, he'll be the fourth to have done that, following Brock Holt (concussion), Blake Swihart (ankle) and Chris Young (hamstring).
The Red Sox selected Benintendi with the seventh pick of the 2015 MLB Draft after he was named SEC player of the year and Baseball America's college player of the year.
Boston entered Wednesday tied for first place in the American League East with the Toronto Blue Jays at 71-54.
Sports on 08/25/2016