ARLINGTON, Texas -- The New York Yankees continued their yearlong litany of injuries right up until Game 162 against the Texas Rangers, with third baseman Gio Urshela suffering a mild left ankle sprain on Sunday afternoon.
It was the second injury scare of the week for Urshela, who had to leave Tuesday's game at Tropicana Field in the seventh inning after being hit by a pitch. Urshela avoided any major damage when X-rays came back negative and the diagnosis was limited to a bruised left hand.
"A lot of scares this year already, but I feel good," Urshela said following New York's 6-1 loss. "Thank God it has never been anything serious and I will be fine by Friday. At first I got a little scared; these are things that have to be taken seriously. But I feel much better. If this had been a playoff game, I think I would have continued playing."
Urshela was taken out of Sunday's game in the bottom of the fourth inning after an apparent misstep as he was fielding a hard-hit ground ball by Rangers third baseman Nick Solak. He was seen by doctors at Globe Life Park and no tests were deemed necessary and no further testing is scheduled at this time. Manager Aaron Boone said there wasn't significant swelling.
"I know he checked out all right, no real swelling in there," Boone said. "I was very concerned obviously walking out there -- I didn't see his calf or a muscular thing and he rolled his ankle a little bit, but I don't think it was anything big. Obviously decided to get him out of there right away just in case, to get some ice on it, make sure we didn't have any swelling in there."
He had been struggling at the plate as of late, but had gone 3-for-9 with one home run in the first two games of the series against the Rangers. Urshela is having a career year, batting .315/.356/.535 with 21 homers and 74 RBIs in 131 games.
The 27-year-old third baseman is one of the many Yankees to have spent time on the injured list. He was placed on the 10-day IL with a left groin muscle injury at the end of August.
Urshela's injury leaves the Yankees with little room for error as they try to set their roster for the American League Division Series against the Minnesota Twins, which starts Friday at Yankee Stadium.
Boone said there's no way Urshela isn't on the roster. "No, there's no way. [If this was a playoff game,] yeah, I think he would have stayed in."
The Yankees have had a myriad of injuries all season, placing a record-setting 31 players on the IL, surpassing the previous major league record of 28, set by the Dodgers in 2016.