Dodgers’ Kyle Tucker (back spasms), Dalton Rushing exit game
MINNEAPOLIS — Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker exited the game against the Minnesota Twins on Monday in the top of the second inning because of lower back spams, the team announced.
He drew a walk in the second inning, advanced to second on Tommy Edman’s single and was replaced by pinch-runner Alex Call soon after.
Tucker jogged off the field into the dugout, his hand on his right side as he talked to hitting coach Aaron Bates.
Tucker, in his first season with the Dodgers after signing a four-year deal worth $240 million this winter, entered Monday with a .705 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, on pace for his worst offensive year by that measure since his 2018 rookie season with the Houston Astros.
Tucker recently went nine games with a .303 batting average. But then he went hitless in the Dodgers’ two losses to the Baltimore Orioles last weekend.
“If we can get him back to being who he is, then we’ll bet on the results,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game, noting Tucker’s reputation for controlling the strike zone. “It’s not something that we might see tonight. But I think going here forward, that’s something that I think we’re going to see.”
Rushing exits too
Catcher Dalton Rushing was replaced behind the plate by Chuckie Robinson in the bottom of the third inning so the team could check Rushing for a possible concussion.
The Dodgers did not point to a cause for the concern, but Rushing did take a foul tip off his mask on Will Klein’s first pitch of the game.
The Dodgers already were down one catcher. Starter Will Smith has been sidelined for more than two weeks because of a neck injury. He did not travel with the team to Minnesota.