Playoff-contending Royals lose 1B Vinnie Pasquantino for rest of regular season to broken thumb

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino will miss the rest of the regular season after breaking his right thumb while trying to make a play at first base in the eighth inning of Kansas City’s loss to Houston, the team said Friday.

“No one person is going to carry the weight of Vinny on a daily basis, but we have plenty of good other major league players here to contribute to winning baseball,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.

Pasquantino, who is fourth in the majors with 97 RBIs and has been a key piece in the Royals’ turnaround, returned to Kansas City after Thursday night’s 6-3 loss at Minute Maid Park. X-rays revealed the broken bone and Quatraro said Friday that it will require surgery, which they expect to be done early next week.

“Timetable, they say 6-8 weeks, but you never know,” Quatraro said. “We’ve got to see how it goes when they get in there and execute the surgery.”

The Royals entered Friday second in the AL Central, 1 1/2 games back of Cleveland, and firmly in a wild-card position. They were two games ahead of Minnesota for the second wild card and 5 1/2 ahead of Boston for the final spot.

There is a chance Pasquantino could return during the playoffs if the Royals make it and advance far enough.

Pasquantino was hurt on a bizarre play. Royals reliever Lucas Erceg tried to barehand a comebacker by the Astros’ Yainer Diaz in the eighth inning. The ball bounced off his hand, and when Erceg picked it and threw to first, the throw was up the line. Diaz was running hard and collided with Pasquantino’s hand, sending him whirling around in pain.

Pasquantino threw down his glove in frustration and immediately left the game.

Veteran catcher Salvador Perez, who has appeared in 35 games at first base this season, was in the lineup there Friday, but Quatraro said several players will rotate to fill in for Pasquantino.

“You guys have seen him catch here for over a decade,” Quatraro said. “So we’re not going to just all of a sudden run and say he has to play first base every day.”

Quatraro said that Nick Loftin, Adam Frazier, Garrett Hampson, Michael Massey and MJ Melendez could all play the position, if needed.

Royals trainers examined Erceg before he also left the game. The right-hander, who has been stellar since he came to Kansas City in a deadline deal with the Athletics, avoided major injury.

“We’re fairly fortunate, just a bruise on his hand, a little bit of swelling like you’d expect, but nothing broken,” Quatraro said.

He added that Erceg is listed as day to day with the injury.

The Royals were clinging to a 3-2 lead when the play occurred, and the Astros tied the game. They pulled ahead when John Schreiber walked Zach Dezenzo with the bases loaded, and Mauricio Dubón followed with an RBI single. MJ Melendez’s fielding error allowed an extra run to score and give Houston a 6-3 lead heading to the ninth.

“We made a mistake,” Quatraro said, “and they took advantage of it.”

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AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken contributed to this report.

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