ARLINGTON -- In the middle of a seventh-inning rally that finally saw some hits fall their way, the Royals had to switch their celebration to concern when they watched Maikel Garcia pull up while running to third base and, once he got to the bag, crumple to the ground in clear pain.
Head athletic trainer Kyle Turner and manager Matt Quatraro immediately went to third to check on Garcia, who exited with a right hamstring strain.
The Royals were still gathering information after their 7-6 walk-off loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Field on Saturday as to the severity of the strain and what the next steps are for Garcia.
“He’s getting treatment, and we’re not going to know until we see how he feels in the morning,” Quatraro said. “That’s a bad feeling for us, obviously. Anybody who’s ever had that happen to them, it’s like you get stabbed. It just takes a while to figure out how severe it is, and once things calm down, and he gets treatment, we’ll have a better idea of severity without a test.”
The Royals flipped a three-run deficit into a one-run lead in the seventh inning, a rally started by Isaac Collins’ double and Nick Loftin’s pinch-hit single to turn the lineup over. Carter Jensen, Bobby Witt Jr. and Garcia all followed with RBI singles to tie the game.
With Witt on third base and Garcia on first, Vinnie Pasquantino roped a double into left field, and Witt scored to give the Royals a 4-3 lead. Garcia was attempting to go from first to third, but he pulled up about halfway between second and third base and limped the rest of the way.
Garcia has been a bright spot for the Royals’ offense with a .268/.325/.384 slash line, and as hitters continue to search for answers, they really can’t afford to lose Garcia for an extended period of time. If it does turn into an injured list stint, Loftin could play third base. Kansas City also has several veteran infielders playing for Triple-A Omaha right now, like Kevin Newman, Josh Rojas and Abraham Toro.