SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants first baseman Brandon Belt expects to be able to play on Friday after he suffered what manager Bruce Bochy described as a mild sprain of his left ankle on a slide in the eighth inning of San Francisco's 4-3, 10-inning victory over the Padres on Wednesday.
Belt was walking around the clubhouse after the game without a noticeable limp and was carrying a walking boot "just in case it swells up tomorrow," he said. He will travel with the team Wednesday night to Colorado, where he will be re-evaluated by the Giants' training staff.
"It hurt pretty bad in the moment, and then it got a little bit better, and then it started getting worse," Belt said. "It just comes and goes right now. It's just one of those things where you have to watch it overnight and see what happens."
The first baseman was injured as he slid into second on a Brandon Crawford popup that briefly drifted foul but was pushed fair by the wind, just out of the reach of Padres catcher Derek Norris.
Replays showed that Belt's left foot got caught on the glove of Padres shortstop Alexei Ramirez and stuck in the infield dirt as a result, rolling his left ankle. Although Ramirez didn't make the catch on the throw from Norris, he was able to pick the ball up and tag Belt for the forceout as Belt rolled around in pain behind the base.
"He thought he was out -- that's why he didn't try to crawl back to the bag," Bochy said.
Although Belt initially told Bochy he thought he could stay in the game, the pain increased when he got back to the dugout. Belt had been 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk before he was replaced at first base by Conor Gillaspie.
"Unless something happens tomorrow and I wake up and it's swollen up or something like that, we'll have to re-evaluate, but as of right now, I feel like I'll be able to play on Friday," Belt said.