Albies day to day after foul ball to knee

LOS ANGELES -- Less than an hour after seeing Ozzie Albies carried off the field at Dodger Stadium, the Braves were relieved to learn X-rays on the second baseman’s left knee were negative.

Albies created a scare when he fell to the ground after fouling Walker Buehler’s fastball off his left knee in the fifth inning of the Braves' 3-2 loss to the Dodgers on Tuesday night. He rolled around in pain and was eventually carried off the field by two members of the team’s athletic training staff.

“We’ll go day to day with him and see how he is,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That could have been something really bad there. It hit him hard. I’m just so glad the X-ray came back negative.”

When Snitker spoke to the media about 20 minutes after the game, he said Albies was still feeling pretty sore. The All-Star second baseman will likely miss at least a couple of games. But as long as the swelling and discomfort subside over the next few days, he will likely avoid going on the 10-day injured list.

“The news we have so far, we’re pretty optimistic about it,” Braves starting pitcher Charlie Morton said. “I just hope he starts to feel better in the short term.”

With rosters expanding to 28 players on Wednesday, the Braves could account for Albies’ absence by adding Johan Camargo or Orlando Arcia, who are both on the 40-man roster. Ehire Adrianza replaced Albies at second base for the remainder of Tuesday’s game.

Albies has hit .259 with 23 homers and an .800 OPS. He leads the National League with 63 extra-base hits.

“It looked really bad,” Braves outfielder Joc Pederson said. “He’s a huge part of this team. So, we need to get him back ASAP.”