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Marly RiveraESPN Writer
SEATTLE– Matt Charpentierthe dream comeback season of New York Yankees could have ended early Monday night.
Carpenter, 36, broke his left foot when he fouled an 89mph slider from Seattle Mariners hall Logan Gilbert in the first round. He will be absent indefinitely.
After hobbling in pain, Carpenter was briefly controlled by manager Aaron Boone, but ended the game at bat and was swung out on the next pitch. He said he knew something was wrong, but thought he could finish the batting attack and start a run.
“When I went to swing on the next pitch, as soon as I started planting and spinning on that back foot, my lower body gave out and I couldn’t,” Carpenter explained. “Fortunately the best thing that happened was probably swinging and missing – because if I had hit him and had to run, I might have made it worse. But I knew that. was no good.”
Carpenter, wearing a protective boot in the Yankees clubhouse after the game, said he hoped to only miss a month. But a timeline won’t be determined until he sees a foot specialist.
“I don’t want to say a number because I just don’t know, but hopefully it will be a situation where I can come back in mid-September and contribute to a stretch race,” Carpenter said. “So we’ll see. I mean, that’s my mindset, it’s that I’ll be back.”
Boone said he was immediately aware something was wrong and a change was needed when he checked on Carpenter in the clubhouse between innings.
“I knew he got it right. That’s why I went there initially,” Boone said. “And I was just like, the way he was moving, I’m like, that’s not good.”
The Locastro team replaced Carpenter at DH in the third inning. The Yankees then beat the Mariners 9-4ending the season’s worst five-game losing streak.
“I have no doubt in my mind that [Carpenter] still going to impact this team even though he’s injured,’ Yankees starter said Jameson Taillon, who pitched seven innings to pick up the win. “He came here right away and impacted a lot of people. He’s not afraid to talk about pitching with pitchers. He’s not afraid to give honest feedback. He’s one of the best guys I’ve rubbed shoulders with and played with, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds his way back and makes an impact.”
A favorite for American League Returning Player of the Year, Carpenter is batting .305 with 15 home runs and 37 RBIs in just 128 at-bats for New York this season, and he had reached base in 27 of his 35 starts. Last month, he batted .356 in 73 at bats.
It all came after hitting seven homers in 418 plate appearances over the previous two seasons.
The Texas native signed with the Yankees in May after being released by the Rangersfor whom he spent the first month and a half of the season working at Triple-A.
Since making his debut with the Yankees on May 26, Carpenter has a .727 hitting percentage, the best in MLB in that span (minimum 100 plate appearances). New York is averaging 6.5 points per game with Carpenter in the lineup and 4.8 points without him.
“We’ll definitely miss him for as long as it lasts, but hopefully we get some good news and it won’t be the end of the season,” the Yankees third baseman said. Josh Donaldson said.
Carpenter came into Monday night’s game after an emotional streak against the Cardinals of St. Louis, the team with which he spent the first 11 years of his career. Carpenter received a long standing ovation before his first at bat and went 2 for 12 in the series at St. Louis.
This is the Yankees’ last major injury. All-Star Slugger Giancarlo Stanton and pitchers Louis Severino, Michael King and Michael Castro all of them fell injured last month, and they have not returned.
King will miss the rest of the season with a broken right elbow, while Severino (right side strain) and Castro (right shoulder fault) are also on the 60-day injured list. Stanton is on IL for 10 days, retroactive to July 24, due to left Achilles tendonitis.
New York has the best record in the AL at 71-39 and leads the AL East by 10½ games.
ESPN Stats & Information and Associated Press contributed to this report.