If it’s any indication of how his sore left knee feels, Avisail Garcia was singing out loud before he addressed reporters late Wednesday night.
The White Sox outfielder does have an MRI scheduled for Thursday morning after he left Wednesday night’s game with the injury. But Garcia didn’t seem overly concerned about the matter and generally was in an upbeat mood. Garcia’s manager described him as day to day.
“I’m OK,” Garcia said. “Just when I (slid) into first base I (felt) a little bit something in my knee. They wanted to take a look. We were losing so why not rush.
“I have a MRI (Thursday) in the morning. They want to make sure everything is ok. But I’m fine.”
The team’s top All-Star candidate, Garcia is hitting .318/.362/.512 with 11 home runs and 51 RBIs in 309 plate appearances this season. He went 0-for-2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch before he exited.
Though Garcia tweaked his knee in the bottom of the seventh inning, he didn’t leave until the top of the ninth inning. He was replaced in right field by Alen Hanson.
“He kind of just on stepping on the bag just extended,” manager Rick Renteria said. “He'll be day to day. Had an ice bag on it. He'll be fine. We'll know more tomorrow.”
MLB
Garcia seemed more concerned by the play on which he was hurt than about how he felt. Having walked with two outs in the seventh inning and the White Sox trailing 8-2 in a torrential downpour, New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez attempted to throw behind Garcia, which forced the runner to dive back into first base. Garcia stayed on the ground for a short period and looked as if he were stretching.
“I don’t know what happened,” Garcia said. “But we were losing 8-2 and (Sanchez) (threw) behind me, so I (had) to slide. I (got) a little bit hurt, but I’m fine.”