Oakland Athletics right fielder Brent Rooker was forced to exit Thursday’s matchup against the New York Yankees after experiencing right flank discomfort during his opening inning plate appearance.
The injury occurred when Rooker swung at a changeup from Yankees pitcher Ryan Weathers, fouling the ball off with the count at 0-2. Rooker immediately showed signs of distress, grimacing and appearing to favor his back area before being examined by manager Mark Kotsay and team medical staff, who ultimately removed him from the contest.
Oakland officially disclosed the injury during the fourth inning of play.
Lawrence Butler stepped in to replace Rooker in the third position of the batting order. Butler struck out looking on the following pitch, with the at-bat officially recorded under Rooker’s statistics.
The previous evening, Rooker had delivered the game-winning hit for Oakland, connecting on a sacrifice fly against David Bednar in the ninth inning that secured a 3-2 victory on Wednesday.
This season, Rooker has struggled at the plate with a .146 batting average, though he has contributed two home runs and eight RBIs. His most impressive performance came during Sunday’s dramatic 12-10 extra-inning triumph over Houston, where he drove in six runs on two homers, including a walk-off three-run blast that ended the contest in the 10th inning.
