Kansas City Royals starter Michael Lorenzen will have an MRI on Wednesday after injuring his left hamstring in the second inning of Tuesday night’s 6-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians.
Lorenzen was hurt while stretching to cover first base. He tried to continue playing but had to leave the game after facing one batter.
Manager Matt Quatraro said Lorenzen will fly back to Kansas City for imaging tests while the Royals finish their four-game series in Cleveland.
“We think it’s mild, but doubtful he’ll be able to pitch in five days,” Quatraro said. “We’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”
After Lorenzen left, Carlos Hernández pitched 2 1/3 innings before the game was delayed for more than two hours due to rain.
When the game resumed, James McArthur (5-5) struck out four in two innings, and John Schreiber, Sam Long, and Chris Stratton each pitched a perfect inning, with Kansas City’s bullpen retiring all 15 Cleveland batters after the delay.
With this win, the Royals moved into a tie for first place in the AL Central with Cleveland.
In the second inning, Lorenzen got Guardians rookie Daniel Schneemann to hit a grounder to first base. Lorenzen ran to cover the bag, took the throw from second, and then sat down on the dirt.
Lorenzen got up slowly and threw a few warmup pitches while Quatraro and a trainer watched. Lorenzen stayed in to strike out Lane Thomas.
“He aggravated it a little there,” Quatraro said. “He probably amped it up too much.”
Lorenzen then threw one ball to Bo Naylor, and Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez signaled to the dugout.
