Martinez sustains sprained knee during swing
Astros left fielder was sore after the game, but able to put weight on it
HOUSTON -- Astros left fielder J.D. Martinez is listed as day to day after spraining his right knee on a check-swing in the fourth inning of Friday's 3-2 win over the Indians.
Martinez attempted to check his swing on a pitch from Indians starter Brett Myers and fell to the ground while favoring his right leg. Astros manager Bo Porter and team trainers raced to his aid and removed him from the game. Martinez hit a two-run homer in the second inning.
"I was kind of just telling my knee to stop and avoid the pitch because it was coming in, and I guess too many signals to one area and it didn't know what to do," Martinez said. "Like I said to the trainers, it happened to me in college before. I was using metal cleats then and had to switch to molded, and ever since I switched to molded it hasn't happened again [until Friday]."
Porter called it "freakish."
"It was not like he swung," the skipper said. "It's minor, so they say, so he'll be day to day. We'll reevaluate him [Saturday]."
Martinez said it took him three weeks to recover the first time it happened in college and only one week the second time. He said the knee was sore, but he was already able to put a significant amount of weight on it Friday night.
"It felt like it kind of gave out," Martinez said. "My first reaction was I asked [Cleveland catcher Carlos] Santana if the ball hit me and he said, 'No, it didn't hit you,' Right then, I knew exactly what it was. It's just one of those weird things that happens. I'm confident it will be all right."
Martinez is hitting .245 with two homers and seven RBIs this year and has started each of the club's last 12 games, including nine in left field. He didn't start any of the first four games of the season after being optioned to Minor League camp. He was recalled just prior to Opening Day, when Fernando Martinez went on the disabled list.