NEW YORK -- Christian Arroyo has earned his playing time this season, so manager Alex Cora got creative by putting him at first base -- a position he had never played -- for Sunday night¡¯s game against the Yankees.

But the experiment proved to be short-lived when Arroyo suffered a left hamstring strain when he did a split across the bag to pull in a throw by Kik¨¦ Hern¨¢ndez on a fielder¡¯s choice grounder by Giancarlo Stanton in the bottom of the third.

Arroyo had a tough time getting up and then hobbled back to the dugout and was replaced by Bobby Dalbec in an eventual 9-1 loss to the Yankees.

It seems inevitable Arroyo is headed for his third IL stint of the season.

¡°It's most likely an IL thing. He just felt it when he stretched. It's a hard one, because we felt he was ready for us to play first but he stretches and that happens,¡± said Cora. ¡°It's a tough one for him, but we'll bounce back.¡±

Danny Santana, who is coming back from a left quad strain, will likely be activated Monday and take Arroyo¡¯s spot on the roster.

With No. 3 prospect Jarren Duran settling in as the center fielder against righties, Hern¨¢ndez has moved to second base, where Arroyo had been getting most of his playing time.

Arroyo has been solid all season for the Red Sox and Cora didn¡¯t want him to get lost in the shuffle -- hence, putting him at first on Sunday.

¡°Good athlete. Good defender. We're comfortable,¡± said Cora. ¡°He's earned his playing time, let's put it that way. He's putting good at-bats, he's hitting good pitching, and he deserves to start. He's comfortable with it, I'm comfortable with it, so we'll go from there.¡±

For Sunday¡¯s game, that left rookie Dalbec (.219/.262/.405, 10 homers) out of the starting lineup against Yankees righty Jameson Taillon.

Had Arroyo not been injured, it seemed like he was going to settle into a role that could see him play second base against lefties and first against some righties.

For his debut at first, Arroyo used a glove that Dalbec has used in games that Christian V¨¢zquez is actually the owner of. The glove has ¡°V¨¢zquez¡± stitched into it.¡°

¡°I¡¯ve got to wait until Wilson sends me one, but yeah, this will be fun. It¡¯s exciting,¡± Arroyo said before the game.

When was the last time Arroyo played first in any type of game setting?

¡°I played Summer Camp last year when I was with Cleveland just like for one of the [intrasquad] games but that¡¯s obviously a controlled setting,¡± said Arroyo.

Unfortunately, his first real stint at the position didn¡¯t last very long. Perhaps Arroyo will get another shot when he¡¯s healthy enough to return.