BOSTON – One night after experiencing right hamstring tightness, New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks was left off Saturday night’s Game 2 American League Division Series lineup.
Brett Gardner will be coming off the bench and playing center in Hicks’ place as the Yankees try to even the series after going down 0-1 with Friday night’s 5-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox.
He was injured after leaving Friday’s game in the fourth inning. He led off the inning by singling off Red Sox starter Chris Sale‘s 91.4 mph fastball before slowly jogging up the first-base line. After being evaluated on the field, he was removed.
Hicks underwent an MRI on his hamstring Saturday morning.
Manager Aaron Boone says Hicks’ MRI came back clean, and that he will be an active player Saturday night but isn’t starting out of precaution. Boone says he “would not hesitate” to use Hicks in a late-game scenario.
It was the second time in a week and a half that the 29-year-old had been removed from a game due to hamstring tightness. Hicks’ left hamstring had bothered him in the opener of the Yankees’ penultimate regular-season series at Tampa Bay.
The Red Sox lineup Saturday remained the same with the exception at first base, where Mitch Moreland replaced Steve Pearce.