Yelich day to day with lower back stiffness
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NEW YORK -- Reigning National League MVP Christian Yelich left Sunday’s game with lower back discomfort following the top of the fifth inning in an eventual 5-2 Brewers loss at Citi Field.
Following the game, manager Craig Counsell said that after Yelich singled in his second at-bat in the top of the fourth, he broke to steal and his back stiffened up on him. He remained in the game that inning, but was removed prior to the bottom of the fifth.
“At this point, it’s day to day,” Counsell said after the game. “He’s a little sore right now. I don’t think it’s an [injured list move]. We’ll see how he is tomorrow … Definitely, try to give him a day tomorrow, but we’ll see how he is.”
Yelich hit his 14th home run of the season on Saturday night, tying Alex Rodriguez in 2007 and Albert Pujols in 2006 for the most home runs in a season before May 1 in Major League history. The outfielder entered Sunday’s game with a .350/.459/.810 slash line.
Yelich dealt with back injuries during his time in Miami, before joining the Brewers. He spent time on the injured list in both 2014 and 2015 with lower back strains, but has not missed time with those sorts of injuries since. He missed just under two weeks last April with the Brewers with a strained right oblique.