Hamstring discomfort ends Hiura's day early
CHICAGO -- The Brewers sent rookie Keston Hiura back to Milwaukee for further tests on Friday after he limped down the first-base line on a groundout in the fifth inning of a 7-1 loss to the Cubs and left the game with discomfort in his left hamstring.
With third baseman Mike Moustakas sidelined by a bruised left hand, the Brewers will have to make a roster move before the series continues on Saturday afternoon, manager Craig Counsell said. The only other healthy infielder on the 40-man roster is Travis Shaw.
¡°We¡¯re going to ... have Dr. [William] Raasch take a look at [Hiura] right away,¡± Counsell said. ¡°Hopefully, we¡¯ll have some more answers tonight. I don¡¯t see him as available for [Saturday].¡±
Both Counsell and Hiura said the issue is unrelated to a hard slide by Cubs left fielder Kyle Schwarber on an inning-ending double play in the third. Hiura and Schwarber tangled as Hiura made the turn, and Hiura stayed down for a few moments before trotting to the dugout and remaining in the game.
But in the top of the fifth, Hiura hit a two-out grounder to shortstop and was in noticeable discomfort halfway down the baseline.?
¡°I think I caught it before it got anything too [bad],¡± Hiura said. ¡°We¡¯ll see how it feels tomorrow and go from there. It was one of those things where I was trying to beat the ball out, give a hard 90 [feet], and I felt a little something going down there.¡±?
Hiura has become a critical hitter for the Brewers in his first season in the Majors. The 23-year-old entered the day slashing .304/.373/.578 with 16 home runs in 263 at-bats. His .951 OPS and 141 Weighted Runs Created Plus trailed only Christian Yelich on the team.
Cory Spangenberg took over for Hiura at second base in the bottom of the fifth inning.
¡°We need to [flush] today¡¯s game and get the next two,¡± Hiura said.