Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. hurt on slide, leaves game

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres appeared to injure his left shoulder sliding awkwardly into third base in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies on Friday night and left the game.

It was the third time the 22-year-old Tatis, the NL’s starting shortstop in the All-Star Game, left a game this year due to injury.

Tatis singled and advanced on Manny Machado’s sharp grounder to third baseman Ryan McMahon, who came up with the ball but then had it pop out of his glove and roll behind him into short left-field. Tatis made a dash for third but shortstop Brendan Rodgers ran toward third, took the throw from McMahon and tagged out the sliding Tatis.

Tatis slid awkwardly over the bag and crumbled in pain a few feet away, bringing a hush over Petco Park. Manager Jayce Tingler and a trainer helped Tatis off the field as he winced in pain, holding his left arm. The trainer was holding Tatis’ upper arm/shoulder.

Tatis suffered a partially dislocated left shoulder on a violent swing April 5 against San Francisco and went on the injured list. He reinjured the shoulder and left a game against Cincinnati on June 19, although he missed only one game. Tatis left a spring training game after hurting the shoulder while making a throw but was back two days later.

Tatis also missed eight games in mid-May after testing positive for COVID-19.

Tatis came into the game batting .290 with an NL-best 31 home runs, 23 stolen bases, 78 runs scored and a .650 slugging percentage. His 70 RBIs are third in the NL.

Tatis is known for making spectacular plays at shortstop although he currently leads the majors with 20 errors. He became the first Padres player voted to start an All-Star Game since Tony Gwynn in 1999.

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