Machado exits game with left leg injury for precautionary reasons
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SAN DIEGO -- Third baseman Manny Machado was removed in the seventh inning of the Padres’ 9-7 win over the Cubs on Monday night at Petco Park with an apparent left leg injury.
After grounding out to end the previous inning, Machado was seen being tended to by trainers in the Padres' dugout. Ty France shifted from first to third base while Gavin Sheets entered the game at first.
Padres manager Craig Stammen noted postgame that Machado’s injury wasn’t significant and that he was removed out of precaution.
“He’s fine, we took him out as a precaution,” Stammen said. “Looked like he was just going down the line a little slow, came out of the box a little awkwardly. He had a couple of slides at second that didn’t feel great on his lower half. We’ll talk to him tomorrow, see how he’s feeling and kind of evaluate going forward.”
While the Padres didn’t provide an immediate update regarding Machado’s status, he was clearly experiencing some discomfort earlier in the game, when he legged out his fifth-inning double off Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd which marked the 400th two-bagger of his career.
The hit chased Boyd from the game, and while Cubs righty Ben Brown was warming up, Machado was being treated in the dugout before he took his place at second when play resumed.
After a slow start to the season, he appeared to be hitting his stride at the plate over the past few games, having homered twice in the Mexico City Series finale on Sunday before going 3-for-4 on Monday with a pair of doubles.