Florida

Beltre to Miss Minimum of Four Weeks Due to Hamstring Strain

Rangers activate pitcher Jake Diekman from the 60-day disabled list

The Rangers are barely staying in the A.L. wild card race. If they are to make a move and climb up the standings, they will do it without Adrian Beltre.

The Rangers third baseman is expected to miss a minimum of four weeks due to a Grade 2 hamstring strain. The recovery time could carry into the final weekend of the regular season. Beltre appears optimistic that he will be back this season. However, chances of seeing the captain back on the field to finish out 2017 may be unlikely unless the Rangers somehow manage to sneak into the playoffs.

Beltre suffered the injury fielding a grounder during the seventh inning in Thursday’s 5-1 loss to the Houston Astros in Florida. Beltre would leave the game with Drew Robinson taking over the hot spot.  Joey Gallo was already in the lineup, seeing time at both first base and left field. Gallo will likely take over at third just like he did when Beltre missed the first 51 games of the season with a strained calf.

Beltre was hitting .315 with 16 home runs and 66 RBI’s in 80 games this season prior to the injury. He collected his 3,000 career hit in July, making him the 31st player in major league history to reach the milestone.

This will be the first time Beltre plays in fewer than 100 games in a season since his rookie year with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1997.

The Rangers also activated reliever Jake Diekman from the 60-day disabled list. Diekman has not played this season after undergoing surgery for chronic ulcerative colitis.

The Los Angeles Angels make the trip to The Globe for a three-game series starting on Friday. Cole Hamels gets the start for the Rangers in the series-opener. The Rangers ace is 9-2 with a 3.78 ERA this season. The Angels are a game and a half out of the final A.L. wild card spot while the Rangers are four games out.

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