The Minnesota Twins have lost slugger Nelson Cruz to a strained wrist sustained in a Thursday night loss to the Cleveland Indians.
The injury was suffered during a fourth inning at-bat against Cleveland starter Mike Clevinger. Cruz swung at a pitch and immediately felt discomfort in his left wrist, which caused him to miss time earlier this season after suffering a similar injury.
Cruz left the game after the at-bat and is set to undergo further testing to determine the severity of the injury.
Minnesota’s 7-5 loss on Thursday night brought the Indians within one game of their AL Central lead. Cruz’s injury couldn’t come at a worse time for Minnesota, which has gradually watched its one-time double-digit division lead shrink gradually during the second half of the season.
Cruz has been one of the big reasons why Minnesota has been able to keep its head above water during the second half of the season. He’s arguably been baseball’s best player since the All-Star Break, hitting .361 with 16 home runs and 30 RBIs since the middle of July.
While manager Rocco Baldelli stated that Cruz was “day-to-day” after Thursday’s game, more testing will determine whether or not the Twins will be forced to place Cruz on the injured list for an extended period of time.
