SEATTLE -- In the midst of maybe his best day of the season, Dominic Canzone was forced to exit early during the Mariners’ 3-1 win against the Red Sox on Sunday.
But the right hamstring issue that sidelined him is not considered serious beyond a day-to-day situation, Canzone and manager Dan Wilson said postgame. And Canzone was moving around fine in the home clubhouse and gearing up for the team charter to Pittsburgh.
“I’m good,” said Canzone, who put the Mariners on the board with a solo homer in the second inning and then made an athletic diving catch that ignited an inning-ending double play in the sixth.
Canzone tweaked the hamstring on an RBI groundout in the sixth, when he was attempting to beat the throw to the bag. He grabbed the back of his right leg immediately after and then went straight to the home clubhouse at T-Mobile Park, after a brief conferral with Mariners head athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson in the dugout.
Although it appears that he’s avoided a serious injury, he became the latest casualty to exit a game for the banged-up Mariners, who’ve absorbed a litany of injuries over the past two weeks.
“We'll see how he's feeling after the off-day tomorrow,” Wilson said.
It was also a tough break for Canzone, whose great game was highlighted by two key factors that he’s worked to improve over the past few years -- hitting lefties more effectively, and playing cleaner defense.
The homer was his 12th of the season and first off a southpaw. He connected on Payton Tolle's 98.4 mph four-seamer on the outer half of the plate and punched it just barely over the left-field fence and into Edgar’s Cantina.
“With anything in life, the more you do it, the more you feel comfortable with it,” Canzone said. “So, just trying to get some consistent at-bats off lefties is huge for the confidence.”
The double play was a reactionary play on a hard liner from Ceddanne Rafaela. Canzone had just 2.9 seconds to cover 32 feet, but he let his instincts take over. Then, after gathering himself, he easily doubled-up the runner on second base (Nate Eaton), who presumably thought the ball would drop and allow him to score.
“It's just more like the eyesight,” Canzone said of catches while running in, “just having your glove right there, like, right over your eyes. So that's just where I feel comfortable, instead of, like, sliding.”
It was the type of all-around day that played into the argument that Canzone -- a platoon corner outfielder and designated hitter -- might warrant more everyday playing time.
For the season, Canzone is slashing .281/.353/.562 (.915 OPS) with 12 doubles, one triple, 33 RBIs, 39 strikeouts and 18 walks in 201 plate appearances.
“He's earned those at-bats against the lefties,” Wilson said. “He's really shown the ability to stay pretty even, and we've talked about that with him -- with his mentality and his psyche, it’s very consistent. It's very even. And I think this is where it really helps him.”
Canzone was replaced in right field by Luke Raley, who just returned the day prior for his first at-bat since last Sunday, sidelined since with lower back soreness and then the flu.
The Mariners are already without starting left fielder Randy Arozarena, who suffered a left hamstring strain on a similar play to Canzone’s last weekend in Washington, when attempting to leg out an infield single. Arozarena has been sidelined the past eight games but is expected to return during Seattle’s upcoming series in Pittsburgh that begins Tuesday, when he’s first eligible to be activated.