The Los Angeles Dodgers dropped their Freeway Series finale against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Sunday evening, falling 4-3 on a pinch-hit home run by Shohei Ohtani.
All three of the Dodgers runs came on one swing in the top of the second inning when Yasiel Puig launched a three-run home run to straightaway center field.
The home run was Puig’s second in as many at-bats dating back to Saturday night’s win as he looked to be locked in at the plate. He was forced to leave the game during his next at-bat though when he hurt his oblique on a swing.
After undergoing initial tests, Puig was diagnosed with a right intercostal oblique strain, although he will undergo an MRI on Monday to determine how severe the injury is. Regardless though, he is expected to require at least a short disabled list stint.
While Puig was not happy to get injured, he was even more unhappy that he was forced to leave the game and couldn’t help his team win, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“I don’t know how long I’m going to be out,” said Puig. “On the first swing, I felt something, but not too much. On the second swing I try to get to that fastball and try to hit it in front and that’s when I feel it. I feel bad because I can’t help my team win right now. I play a little better today and do the best I can in the field and now this has happened. All I can do is rest and do the treatment.”
With Puig out, Matt Kemp is expected to shift over to right field, and either Alex Verdugo or Andrew Toles could be called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City. The Dodgers front office could also decide to make a trade to acquire a position player to make up for his absence.
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