The Phillies were down a man for Friday's series opener against the Tigers at Comerica Park.
Outfielder Justin Crawford was scratched from the lineup with left knee soreness, the club announced shortly before first pitch. Derek Hill replaced Crawford, batting eighth and playing center field. Hill went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs in Friday's 10-2 loss to the Tigers.
“[Crawford] just slipped in the outfield doing some drill work," Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said postgame. "He had some [knee] soreness and we’ll see how it goes. It felt better as the game went on. We’ll probably be careful with him, but we’ll see how he is [Saturday]. If he wakes up sore or swelling, they’ll probably do [a MRI].’’
Crawford drove in the lone run of Thursday’s 1-0 win over the Reds, bringing in Hill with a single in the eighth inning. The rookie has been heating up: He is 8-for-24 (.333) in eight July games and is hitting .350 (21-for-60) with an .814 OPS in his past 20 contests.
For the season, Crawford is batting .263 with two home runs, 21 RBIs, 12 stolen bases and a .665 OPS. He started 73 of the Phillies’ first 94 games in center field.
*Steve Kornacki contributed to this report.*