Cain day to day after fouling ball off knee

PITTSBURGH -- With Christian Yelich resting his back and the rotation depth stretched thin, the Brewers were once again faced with the threat of an injury to a significant player when they removed Lorenzo Cain from Tuesday’s 4-3 win against the Pirates at PNC Park with a bruised left knee.

In the first at-bat of the contest, Cain worked a 2-2 count against Pirates starter Steven Brault before fouling a pitch off his left leg near his kneecap. He went to the ground in pain, requiring a lengthy discussion with Milwaukee’s training staff, but he stayed in to finish the plate appearance and flied out deep to center fielder Starling Marte.

But the pain was apparent as Cain hobbled out of the first-base line en route to the dugout, and he was replaced in center field in the bottom of the first inning by Ben Gamel.

“[He’s] just day to day right now,” manager Craig Counsell said. “He whacked it pretty good. But he’s in good spirits right now, walking around pretty good. It’s just a matter of it may be kind of sore tomorrow, so we’re just going to have to go through it and see.”

Cain said the ball hit directly off the inside of his kneecap, a very sensitive area that swelled up, but X-rays showed no structural damage had been incurred.

“That got me pretty good,” Cain said. “That was pretty painful for me.”

Cain had a good day at the plate Monday in an up-and-down season offensively, posting a multihit effort in a 9-7 win. He was down shortly after making a diving play on a line drive hit by Adam Frazier, though he finished the game.

With the potential for Yelich sitting another day, the Brewers are hopeful Cain will be able to play in Wednesday’s series finale, though they have options in Gamel and Trent Grisham to complement Ryan Braun if need be. They also have an off-day Thursday, which will factor into the game-time decision making.

“We’re going to see how it feels tomorrow,” Cain said. “I plan on being out there tomorrow in my mind.”