Hyperextended knee forces Raburn from game
Indians utility man expected to miss multiple games
DETROIT -- Ryan Raburn's trying season with the Indians took another unfortunate turn on Saturday night.
In the fourth inning of Cleveland's 5-4 loss to the Tigers, Raburn was lifted from the contest after hyperextending his left knee. The injury is not considered serious, but the veteran utility man will likely miss at least a handful of games and may require an MRI exam if the issue persists in the coming days.
"I guess I strained the tendon there on the outside, so it hurts," Raburn said. "I guess we'll give it a few days. Hopefully, it'll calm down. The doctor doesn't see anything that's major, so hopefully after a couple days, I'll be able to get back out there."
Raburn, who was playing right field for Cleveland on Saturday, injured the knee while planting his leg to make a throw on a single by Rajai Davis in the third inning. For the bottom of the fourth, Raburn was replaced on defense by rookie outfielder Tyler Holt.
"It wasn't a ton of swelling," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "But we'll see how he shows up [Sunday], see if that thing calms down or see if he's sore, and then we'll go from there."
The 33-year-old Raburn drew a walk in his lone plate appearance on Saturday night and went 2-for-3 with a home run in Friday's loss to Detroit. The veteran utility man missed the last two weeks of August with a right wrist injury that has plagued him off and on throughout what has been a down season.
Through 74 games with the Indians, Raburn has hit .200 with four home runs and 22 RBIs this season. In 21 games between July and August, he hit at just a .160 clip for the Tribe.
"I don't want a pity party, by any means," Raburn said. "It's been a tough year, but you've just got to keep battling and grinding through it. Injuries are part of the game. You just have to deal with it and go on."
It has been a dramatic drop-off from 2013, when Raburn hit .272 with 16 homers, 55 RBIs and a .901 OPS in 87 games in his first tour with the Indians. Raburn's production last season netted him a two-year contract that runs through '15, and Cleveland owns a team option for the '16 campaign.