Bad turns to worse for the New York Yankees as they lose starting centerfielder Aaron Hicks in the fourth inning.
Being down 5-0 against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway against Chris Sale is bad enough for the New York Yankees. They also lost their starting centerfielder in the process.
Aaron Hicks put together a stellar at-bat against the lanky lefty, battling to finally punch a base hit through the right side.
However, upon jogging to first, Hicks seemed to pull up a bit, garnering some concern from the Yankees medical staff.
As a precaution, Hicks was taken out and replaced by lifelong Yankee Brett Gardner. Hicks had been battling a hamstring injury just a few weeks ago and, folks, this does not look good.
Brett Gardner replaces Aaron Hicks in the fourth for New York.
?: @TBSNetwork pic.twitter.com/EW9V4JHX0P
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 6, 2018
With Hicks out the lineup, the Yankees are missing one of their hotter hitters, including a guy who reached base twice against the impressive Chris Sale.
In addition, multiple sources reported that Hicks expressed frustration over being taken out in Game 1 of this crucial ALDS series.
A frustrated Aaron Hicks slammed his helmet on the dugout steps as he retreated into the #Yankees clubhouse. Big loss for NY, but Brett Gardner’s veteran presence is helpful.
— Deesha Thosar (@DeeshaThosar) October 6, 2018
As a former Yankees manager once said far too often, it’s not what you want. Hicks is a key component to this Yankees team and showed a lot of fight so far in this game, including that last 11-pitch at-bat against one of the toughest lefties in the game.
We will keep you updated on the reports surrounding the severity of Hicks’ injury as more information comes to light.
But for now the Yankees should probably focus on how to get to the Red Sox bullpen as Sale is dealing, per usual.
In the back of their mind, they’ll be thinking of Hicks. However, they have bigger fish to fry for the time being.
