Beltre sprains left thumb, out at least 2 weeks

ARLINGTON -- Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre will miss at least two weeks after he left Sunday's game against the Red Sox in the fifth inning, injuring his left thumb on a slide into second base.

Beltre was examined by team physician Dr. Keith Meister during the game. X-rays were negative and the official diagnosis was a sprained left thumb and a cut that required four stitches to close. He is likely headed to the disabled list.

The Rangers have several options to replace Beltre in the lineup, starting with Adam Rosales, who replaced Beltre after the injury Sunday. Hanser Alberto, who made his Major League debut last week, has started back-to-back games at second base, but can also play third. Another option is to recall second baseman Rougned Odor from Triple-A Round Rock to shore up the infield. Odor is the only infielder on the 40-man roster who's not on the active roster.

There's also Ryan Rua, who has experience at third and could return from an ankle injury toward the end of Beltre's time on the DL -- and of course top prospect Joey Gallo is still biding his time at Double-A Frisco, where he hit .314 with nine homers in his first 34 games this year.

Ed Lucas, a journeyman utility player who has played all four infield positions this season for Round Rock, is another candidate. He entered Sunday hitting .337 (55-for-163) for the Express.

Manager Jeff Banister said the Rangers will have their backup plan in place by Tuesday, when they play their next game.

"We go through Armageddon situations all the time in-house," Banister said. "We talk about all these types of situations and the 'what if?' game."

Beltre has played in all 51 games this season, only getting a few innings off here or there in six of those games. He played in 465 games from 2012-14 as one of the Rangers' most durable players, and his streak of 191 consecutive games played was the second-longest active streak in the Majors behind Atlanta's Freddie Freeman's 218.