Ty France’s pain of not producing at the plate to his expected level has now been replaced by extreme discomfort in his lower right leg.
The Mariners first baseman exited Thursday afternoon’s game in the third inning with a right calf bruise after a first-inning collision with Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez while playing first base.
With one out and runners on first and second, shortstop J.P. Crawford attempted to finish a double play on Ramirez’s ground ball to second baseman Adam Frazier.
With Ramirez hustling down the line, Crawford rushed his throw to first base and it sailed high and to the home plate side of the base. As France made a leaping attempt to grab it, his right leg and foot collided with Ramirez’s leg as he was running through the base. France hit the ground and stayed there briefly in obvious pain. After a conversation with manager Scott Servais and an athletic trainer, he remained in the game and finished the inning.
France batted in the bottom half of the inning and hit a deep fly ball to left, which was caught. He was noticeably limping as he ran to first base.
On the final out of the top of the second, a ground out from Will Benson to Crawford, France appeared to be in discomfort when he stretched to catch the ball. Benson also clipped his right foot causing more discomfort. Irritated at the play and the situation, he limped off the field and fired his first baseman’s mitt at the dugout wall, knowing he would have to come out of the game.
He was replaced by Jake Lamb to start the top of the third inning.
France, 28, was named to the AL All-Star team after a stellar start to his 2021 season, though an elbow injury on a collision at first base forced him to the 10-day injured list and delayed his selection.
He’s mired in his first real slump of the season. Over his last 13 games, France has five hits – all singles — in 60 plate appearances for a .093/.150/.093 slash line with six RBI, four walks and 11 strikeouts
Notes
The Mariners game vs. the Guardians on Friday night has been selected as the Apple TV game of the week. That means the game will not be televised on ROOT Sports for a second straight day. Fans can only watch the game on Apple TV, which is free to stream with a sign-up of their services.
Coming into the season, MLB renewed its deal with YouTube for exclusive rights to a game of the week and also reached deals with Apple TV and Peacock for exclusive games of the week. Apple will reportedly pay $85 million per year over the next seven years to MLB for the rights to the Friday Night Game of the Week.
While that revenue is shared with every MLB team, the Mariners, who own the controlling interest in Root Sports Northwest, would prefer to be able have games on their own regional sports network for obvious reasons.
This story will be updated.