Thursday, May 09, 2013

Gonzalez Neck, Dodger Fans Both Re-Aggravated Wednesday Night

Not Adrian Gonzalez, but it might as well be.

Those of you who saw last night's game saw that Adrian Gonzalez, one of the few Dodgers with a potent bat this year, left the game early after straining his neck attempting to make a play that probably should have been made by someone else. His failed attempt to catch a foul ball between first and home caused Gonzalez to fall awkwardly, particularly given the pratfall was done right in front of a standing AJ Ellis (as well as near Clayton Kershaw):

LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez was removed from Wednesday's 3-2 loss against the D-backs after four innings after aggravating his neck strain that has bothered him for a week.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Gonzalez aggravated the injury in the top of the fourth when he attempted to catch a foul popup by D-backs catcher Wil Nieves and dove awkwardly.

Gonzalez stayed in the game and laced an RBI double to right field in the bottom of the inning to give the Dodgers a 2-0 advantage. He moved to third on a single by Andre Ethier. But Gonzalez did not take the field in the top of the fifth.

"It didn't look real good when he came out, it sounds like he aggravated that neck pretty good," Mattingly said. "I'm not sure it's going to be good, but I'm hoping it's not going to be anything long term."

Gonzalez's status is considered day to day, but he vowed to play Friday against the Marlins. The Dodgers are off Thursday.

"I'll be all right," Gonzalez said. "I'll be ready to go Friday."

Gonzalez' early departure caused Juan Uribe to move from third to first (Uribe, batting .220, was 0-for-3 last night), and brought in Luis Cruz at third base (Cruz, batting .090, went 0-for-1 last night). Oh, and Uribe also had an error at first, complementing errors from Dee Gordon and Clayton Kershaw.

Hoo, boy. It's the second week of May, and it's already a really long season. Get well soon, A-Gon!

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2 comments:

MR.F said...

How could anyone see this coming?

Dusty Baker said...

Day to day? Aren't we all?