I understood! Yankees’ Harrison Bader and Isaiah Kiner-Falefa collide in the outfield, leaving New York feared for more injuries
- Bader dove to play the ball, collided with Kiner-Falefa and took off
- Yankees infielder Oswald Peraza was also injured while pinching
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The already injury-prone New York Yankees could face two more absences after last night’s 10-inning victory over the Guardians.
In the top of the ninth inning with Oscar Gonzalez at the plate and a man in second, the Yankees’ closer Clay Holmes delivered an 1-1 pitch with two outs.
Gonzalez popped the ball to centerfield, which saw centerfielder Harrison Bader, leftfielder Isaiah Kiner-Falefa and shortstop Anthony Volpe run after the ball in shallow left-centerfield.
Volpe backed away as he saw Bader and Kiner-Falefa struggling to catch the ball.
As Bader dove headfirst to make an attempt to catch the ball, Kiner-Falefa slid in and collided with the centerfielder’s head.
The New York Yankees’ injury-plagued season could have gotten worse through Harrison Bader
Bader made a diving attempt to catch a ball but collided with the knee of Isaiah Kiner-Falefa (R) in the process
The centerfielder was attended to by medical personnel and was eventually taken out of the game
Neither player was able to catch the ball to end the inning and runner-off scored to make it 3-2 Cleveland.
Meanwhile, Bader lay in the outfield and required the assistance of the Yankees’ medical staff.
He was helped off the field by the staff and the Yankees were forced to replace him on defense.
IKF was moved to center field in place of Bader, while Oswaldo Cabrera took over left field duties. New York got out of that inning without further damage.
In the bottom of the ninth, trailing by one run, Anthony Rizzo singled for the Yankees and was replaced by Oswald Peraza as pinch runner.
Peraza stole second base, but entered awkwardly, trying to make it a stand-up steal instead of sliding into the bag.
As Andres Gimenez attempted to tag Peraza, he rolled his ankle at the bag and was seen reaching for it.
Peraza was taken out of the game and Aaron Hicks came in as a pinch runner for the team and scored on a Willie Calhoun single.
Another serious injury could have occurred to Oswald Peraza after he stole second too late
Peraza rolled his ankle and will require X-rays to assess any further damage to the game
The Yankees eventually won the game in overtime thanks to a single by Jose Trevino that scored Cabrera from third base.
After the match, Boone said that Bader is expected to be fine after getting Kiner-Falefa’s knee to the head. However, Peraza gets X-rays of his ankle to check for further damage.
It’s yet another injury for a Yankees team that has been plagued by injuries across their roster. Star sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are both on the 10-day IL while starting pitchers Carlos Rodon and Luis Severino are both on the 15-day list. Other injured Yankees include third baseman Josh Donaldson.
The Yankees travel to Tampa Bay this weekend to take on the AL East’s leading Rays in a three-game series.