Angels’ Albert Pujols exits game with hamstring cramp
By Hayden Kane
It seems like everything is going right for the Los Angeles Angels as the 2014 regular season winds down. In a hotly contested American League West, the Angels have run out to a double-digit lead in first place and will be the first team in baseball to clinch a playoff spot.
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Having found enough pitching to survive and even thrive despite the loss of Garrett Richards, the Angels look to be stacked and ready to ride an intimidating lineup to a potentially deep run in the postseason. In order for that to come to be, however, the Angels still need to see some breaks go their way.
At the top of the list of things that need to work out in the Angels’ favor is the health of slugger Albert Pujols. After a down season in 2013, Pujols has shown how productive he can still be in 2014: through 147 games Pujols is batting .273/.328/.467 with 26 home runs and 94 RBI.
It was an unwelcome sight, then, when Pujols was forced to exit the Angels’ game on Monday due to a hamstring cramp after delivering a clutch RBI double.
Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com writes the following:
"Albert Pujols lined a three-run double in the third inning against Mariners starter Hisashi Iwakuma on Monday night at Angel Stadium, but hobbled into second base and came right out of the game with what the club announced was a left hamstring cramp.The unusually warm weather — game-time temperature was 91 degrees — may have contributed to Pujols’ injury."
Whatever the cause of the injury, the Angels will hope that it is not the kind of thing that will cost Pujols significant time, especially with the playoffs just around the corner.
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