Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado had to be stretchered off the field Monday afternoon after he injured his knee running out an infield single during the team's eventual 5-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. Machado's knee buckled as he crossed first base trying to beat out the single in the seventh inning before the Orioles were swept away by the Rays in their four-game set.
According to ESPN, Machado is due to undergo an MRI Tuesday and until that happens, manager Buck Showalter has no update on the young third baseman's condition.
"I'm sure we won't get a full diagnosis until we get an MRI back in Baltimore [on Tuesday]," Showalter told ESPN while adding, "It certainly doesn't look very promising right now."
Many players took to Twitter to wish Machado the best of luck in his recovery, and the Rays official Twitter handle tweeted the following after the injury:
We speak for all #Rays fans when we say we're hoping for the best for Manny Machado. @Orioles
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) September 23, 2013
The Orioles had another injury scare in the bottom half of that fateful seventh inning when second baseman Alexi Casilla and right fielder Nick Markakis collided with each other while they both were trying to catch a fly ball off the bat of Wil Myers. Casilla originally caught the ball, but after his head rammed into Markakis' thigh, he wasn't able to hold onto it and it turned into a two-run single for Myers.
"I thought about doing a slide, saw him out of the corner of my eye, tried to pull up and get out of the way," Markakis told ESPN when reflecting on the incident. "It was just bang bang, him coming full speed, me coming full speed. It was like trying to stop a train on a dime."
Rays manager Joe Maddon saw the injury unfold from a clear perspective in the first base dugout and was very upset to see a player like Machado come up injured.
"It's horrible,'' Maddon said per ESPN. "Hate to see that. This young man blows out his knee, possibly, and then this collision in right field. You can see how badly they wanted it, too."
Machado was in obvious pain before being carted off and now the Orioles will look to fill the void at third base. Whether or not Machado's injury is severe enough to extend his absence through next season remains to be seen but if that ends up being the case after the MRI is conducted on Tuesday, the Orioles may have to look outside to find another player at the hot corner.
Machado, 21, in just his second year with Baltimore, was hitting .283 with 14 homers, 51 doubles and 71 RBIs before the injury.
The series sweep was a key loss for Baltimore (81-70) as it dropped to five games back in the AL Wild Card race as Cleveland and the Rays own the two highly coveted spots.
The injury poured salt in the wounds for Baltimore after a sour weekend that saw its hopes for postseason play take a major setback.
"It was a tough four days and it culminated in a lot of bad stuff today,'' Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts said, according to ESPN. "The losses and the injuries and feeling like we had a good chance coming in to Tampa, to walk out with this kind of feeling is tough for everybody."
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