PITTSBURGH -- The Reds already have their hands full as they prepare to play the Brewers in a four-game series that begins Monday night in Milwaukee. The series could get more challenging after Eugenio Suárez and Elly De La Cruz were both banged up on Sunday afternoon against the Pirates.
During Cincinnati's 9-4 loss that prevented a three-game series sweep, Suárez was facing Pirates starter Mitch Keller with two outs in the sixth inning when a first-pitch fastball hit him on the left hand.
X-rays on Suárez's hand were inconclusive. He is scheduled to undergo a CT scan on Monday in Milwaukee.
“Right now, it’s very swollen, so the X-ray doesn’t say anything. They didn’t see anything because it’s too swollen," Suárez said.
Upon being hit, Suárez -- the Reds' designated hitter -- dropped his bat and grimaced in pain. A television shot showed a sizable lump on his left hand that immediately developed.
After being looked over by manager Terry Francona and head trainer Sean McQueeney, Suárez remained in the game and took first base, though he stared at Keller for a few moments.
Nathaniel Lowe pinch-hit for Suárez during the top of the eighth inning. After the game, the swelling on Suárez's hand near his left wrist remained considerable.
"I think the trainer’s hope is that it maybe hit a blood vessel," Francona said. "We’ve all seen that. He’s very tender. So we’ll get more information tomorrow.”
Suárez's injury came one day after he delivered a thrilling game-winning three-run home run for Saturday's 9-7 victory over the Pirates. In 55 games, he is batting .208 with a .652 OPS, eight homers and 29 RBIs. He was out April 23 to May 22 with a left oblique strain.
“We’ll see what is in there. Right now, obviously, it feels a lot better than when I got hit," Suárez said. "I thought he hit me really good and it was painful. Pray to God for nothing to come up on the CT scan tomorrow.”
Over his career, the 34-year-old Suárez has been hit on the hands multiple times. In April 2018 during his first stint with the Reds -- and also against the Pirates -- he broke his right thumb after being hit by a Jameson Taillon pitch.
“With my experience, I feel like nothing is there," Suárez said. "It doesn’t feel like a [broken] bone. I hope it’s nothing. In my experience, I’ve had those kinds of hit-by-pitches in the past a couple of times. This one, it hit me in, I feel, the strongest part right now. So I don’t feel like anything is broken, but we’ll wait until tomorrow.”
As for De La Cruz, he appeared to turn his left foot awkwardly in the fifth inning on a swing as he grounded to second base for an inning-ending double play. He went to the ground and did not run to first base. He was checked by the trainer and Francona before being permitted to continue.
"Sprained his ankle," Francona said of De La Cruz's injury. "He got it taped and it kind of stiffened up while we were in here, but Tomas [Vera, a trainer] worked on him. We’ll kind of re-evaluate him too, see how he’s doing.”
De La Cruz finished the game even after a 65-minute rain delay during the bottom of the eighth inning.
“If I thought he needed to come out, I would have taken him out," Francona said.
De La Cruz, 24, was activated from the injured list on Tuesday after he missed three weeks with a right hamstring strain. He is 2-for-18 (.111) in his five games since he returned to the Reds' lineup. Overall, he is batting .268 with an .819 OPS, 12 homers and 38 RBIs in 63 games.
Dating back to 2021, the Reds have lost 18 of the last 21 series against the Brewers. That included being swept in a three-game series last week at Great American Ball Park. The 39-43 Reds are also 4-17 against division rivals from the National League Central.