Los Angeles Dodgers phenom Yasiel Puig finally found an opponent he couldn’t conquer: the outfield wall at Coors Field.
Puig made a leaping catch in the fifth inning against the Rockies, colliding with the wall and falling awkwardly to the ground. He stayed in the game for that inning and had an at-bat — a sacrifice fly — in the top of the sixth.
However, when the Dodgers took the field in the bottom of the sixth, Puig did not join them. He was removed in a double switch as pitcher Zack Greinke left the game. Andre Ethier moved from left field to right, and Skip Schumaker entered the game in left.
"Yasiel Puig bruised his left hip and the muscles of his thigh when he hit the wall," the Dodgers tweeted after Puig was pulled. "He had a precautionary X-Ray that was negative. Puig has some tightness in the thigh where he hit and is listed as day to day."
The wall at Coors Field has not been kind to Dodgers outfielders. Center fielder Matt Kemp collided with the wall in August 2012, sustaining a shoulder injury that required offseason surgery.
Puig has taken the league by storm since being called up from the minors in early June. In only 109 career at-bats, he is hitting .440 with eight home runs and 18 RBI. He was named the NL Player of the Month for June, becoming the first player in MLB history to earn that honor for his first month in the league.
