The Nationals lost baseball’s hottest slugger to a right hamstring injury when Kyle Schwarber was eliminated in the second inning of Washington’s 10-5 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.
Schwarber singled to the right-center-field gap and scowled while rounding first. He made a hard stop as Cody Bellinger remove the line drive and went after his right hamstring after he got back to first base.
Manager Dave Martinez and a team trainer came to mind Schwarber, who quickly walked off the field. Schwarber yanked off his batting gloves and threw them as he limped through the dugout.
Martinez said after the game he didn’t yet know the severity of the injury. Schwarber is set to go through an MRI early Saturday morning.
“When you see a guy grab his leg like that, you’ve got to get him out of the game,” Martinez said.
“You hope he can come out of it and be OK,” he said.
The left fielder set a franchise record with 16 homers in June – seven of them opening a game – as he helped the Nationals transform their season around and move once again into the NL East race. He became the third player in major league history to hit 16 homers in 18 games, and just Sammy Sosa (20 out of 1998) has hit more homers in June.
Prior Friday, Schwarber was named NL Player of the Month.
Gerardo Parra substituted Schwarber for a Nationals team that has been assailed by wounds. Trea Turner has missed the previous two games with a finger injury, and the group is likewise without beginning pitcher Stephen Strasburg, among a few others.