'Frustrated' Rendon hits IL for the third time

ANAHEIM -- It’s been a tough season for Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon and it got even rougher on Tuesday, as he was placed on the 10-day injured list for the third time this season.

This time, Rendon suffered a left hamstring strain while running the bases on Sunday, marking his third different injury of the season. He missed 11 games in mid-April with a left groin strain and nine games in early May with a left knee bruise. Infielder Jack Mayfield was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake to take his spot on the roster, which also gave the Angels enough bench players on Tuesday to allow two-way star Shohei Ohtani to bat for himself as the pitcher against the Red Sox.

"It's not awful, but just awful enough it would probably hamstring us for the week," Angels manager Joe Maddon said. "We had to do something about it, especially today with Shohei wanting to hit and pitch. We needed the depth. Anthony might've been able to play by the end of the week, I'm not sure, but we just had to make sure we were covered in all areas. I don't think it's anything really severe, from what I'm understanding."

Rendon, 31, is batting .240/.329/.382 with six homers, 13 doubles and 34 RBIs in 58 games this season. He's in the second season of a seven-year deal worth $245 million and is earning $28 million this year.

Rendon has batted a combined .261/.372/.436 with 15 homers, 24 doubles and 65 RBIs in 110 games with the Angels. He previously hit a combined .310/.397/.556 with 83 homers, 129 doubles and 318 RBIs over his last three seasons with the Nationals from 2017-19. He was an All-Star in '19, the same season he contributed to the Nats' World Series win over the Astros.

A combination of Luis Rengifo, Jose Rojas and Mayfield is expected to fill in for Rendon at third. Rengifo made his second straight there on Tuesday but made a critical throwing error that led to an unearned run in a 5-4 loss to Boston.

But with the All-Star break looming, Rendon could ultimately miss only six games with the injury. He’ll be eligible to return from the IL when the club returns from the break on July 16 against the Mariners.

"He's very frustrated by the whole thing," Maddon said of Rendon's season. "We spoke about it yesterday. And we both agree. We just want him to get him out there playing without anything bothering him. And we both know that when that occurs, good things are going to happen for us and for him. That's it. It's unfortunate. It's serendipitous. There's nothing you can do about it. But he's hurting right now and we've got to just wait until he's well."