ARLINGTON -- After he was pulled from Thursday's game with tightness in his right side, Royals third baseman Hunter Dozier was out of the lineup again Saturday and won’t play until at least Tuesday, manager Ned Yost said.

The Royals are off Monday before beginning a nine-game homestand, so Yost said it’s prudent to keep Dozier out Sunday and give him two extra days to recuperate.

“The trainers were shooting for tomorrow, but it doesn’t make any sense to push it right now unless he’s 100 percent,” Yost said.

Dozier had played every inning of the previous 29 games before Thursday's injury -- officially announced as “right-sided thorax tightness” -- forced his removal in the fifth inning. He has played in 52 of the Royals’ 58 games this season and leads the Royals in batting average (.314), on-base percentage (.398), slugging percentage (.589) and walks (26).

Mondesi’s ‘larceny’ continues
Shortstop Adalberto Mondesi added two stolen bases Friday and one more on Saturday to his Major League-leading total. He now has 21 steals, while no other MLB player entered Saturday with more than 14, and Mondesi also leads the Majors with seven multi-steal games.

“It’s an instinct, it’s a skill, [and] it’s a talent,” Yost said. “First of all, you’ve got to want to steal. You’ve got to want, every time you get on, to take off. Two, to be able to read keys as efficiently as he does, it’s a skill. It’s a talent.”

Mondesi has those exceptional abilities plus elite speed, and it helps that the Royals are philosophically more inclined to steal than any other team. They entered Saturday with 54 stolen bases, while the Mariners and Rangers were a distant second with 40 steals each.

“A lot of people don’t believe in stealing. We do,” Yost said. “But still, you’ve got to have that larceny in your blood. You’ve got to be able to get on and just want to steal.”

Worth noting
• Kansas City has led in 41 of 57 games this season but have won only 19. The Royals’ 22 losses in games they led are the most in the Majors.

• The Royals are hoping to avoid a June swoon like the one they had last season. They entered last June with a 20-36 record, just 1 1/2 games better than their current mark, but they ultimately went 5-21 that month in 2018.

• Both Mondesi and Whit Merrifield have seven triples, tied for the Major League lead. Ten different Royals have tripled this season, while there are 20 MLB teams that don’t have 10 triples total.