CarGo aggravates finger sprain, exits early

DENVER -- The Rockies removed Carlos Gonzalez just before his fourth-inning at-bat in Thursday afternoon's game against the Marlins because the left fielder aggravated the sprain of his right middle finger in his first-inning at-bat.

Gonzalez is listed as day to day.

Gonzalez has been battling the finger injury in recent games. Television footage showed the Rockies' training staff wrapping the finger.

"Sometimes he takes a swing and he re-aggravates it, and that's what he did in his first at-bat," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "I think it's very similar to what it's been before. I don't think it's any worse than that, but tomorrow we'll have a better idea."

Gonzalez struck out in the first inning against Marlins right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, and he remained in the game defensively. But Jordan Pacheco took Gonzalez's next at-bat.

The injury originally occurred in Arizona before the All-Star break. Gonzalez, who entered Thursday tied with the Pirates' Pedro Alvarez for the National League home run lead with 26 and leading the league in slugging percentage at .598 and total bases with 225, didn't go on the 15-day disabled list. However, he pulled out of the Home Run Derby during All-Star festivities, although he did appear in the All-Star Game.

Over the last several days, he has experimented with different methods for wrapping the finger to protect it.