MINNEAPOLIS — New York Yankees All-Star catcher Gary Sanchez has gone on the injured list for the second time this season, a day after straining his left groin.

Sanchez was hurt when he stepped on first base while grounding out in the eighth inning of a 14-12, 10-inning win by the Yankees over Minnesota on Tuesday night. He was replaced by Austin Romine.

Sanchez also was sidelined between April 10 and 24 because of a strained left calf. He had a strained right groin last season that shelved him from June 25 to July 19 and from July 24 to Sept. 1.

“I felt it after I stepped on the base,” Sanchez said through an interpreter. “It felt kind of like a cramp. It’s nothing like what I had last year. The pain is completely different.”

The MRI test on Wednesday revealed a Grade 1 strain, according to Manager Aaron Boone, the mildest form of the injury.

“Which is somewhat of good news, but still it’s going to be some time,” said Boone, who declined to speculate on a timetable for Sanchez’s return.

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The 26-year-old, an All-Star for the second time, is batting .229 with 24 homers and 58 RBI. He was hitting .274 through June 21, but he is 10 for 85 (.118) since then with one homer and six RBI. He hit the ball hard in his last two at-bats on Tuesday, but Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco made a pair of sharp defensive plays to initiate the groundouts.

The Yankees also optioned right-hander Jonathan Holder to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and recalled catcher Kyle Higashioka and left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr. from the RailRiders.

CUBS: The Chicago Cubs optioned shortstop Addison Russell to Triple-A Iowa about two months after he completed a suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy.

The struggling Russell was sent down to make room for All-Star catcher Willson Contreras, who was activated from the 10-day injured list. Chicago also scratched left-hander Jon Lester from his scheduled start against San Francisco because of illness. Right-hander Tyler Chatwood started in Lester’s place.

Russell is hitting .247 with six homers, 16 RBI and a .733 OPS in 55 games. He had a rough game Saturday against San Diego when he appeared to lose a pair of pop-ups in the sun and made multiple baserunning mistakes.

The 25-year-old was suspended 40 games by Major League Baseball last fall after a series of allegations made by ex-wife Melisa Reidy. The couple, who have one child together, divorced in August 2018. Russell said in February that he was accountable for his past actions and apologized for “the hurt and the pain” he caused.

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Russell was eligible to return to the Cubs on May 3 following the completion of his suspension, but the team optioned him to the minors instead. Russell was called up from Iowa on May 8 and got a mostly chilly reception from fans at Wrigley Field in his return.

“This is good for him,” Cubs Manager Joe Maddon said. “We need to get him back to the player that he had been. He just hasn’t been able to recapture that form. He was so important in what we did several years ago, we believed he could do that again for us. But under these conditions, playing sporadically, it wasn’t going to happen.”

Lester (9-6) was slated to make his 400th career start but wasn’t well when he woke up.

“He’s not feeling good, man,” Maddon said. “He’s got a fever and he just couldn’t fight through it.”

Contreras had been out since July 14 with a right foot strain.

PHILLIES: The Philadelphia Phillies put Brad Miller on the 10-day injured list, less than 24 hours after he made a game-saving throw from left field against Detroit.

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The Phillies said Miller has a right hip flexor strain. They activated Sean Rodriguez from the injured list.

HOME RUNS: Major league hitters have already hit more home runs this season than during the entire 2014 season.

George Springer’s two-run shot in the third inning of the Houston Astros’ 4-2 win over Oakland on Wednesday was the 4,187th homer this season, surpassing the 4,186 hit just five seasons ago. There are still 67 days remaining in the regular season.

The league is on pace to eclipse the record 6,105 homers hit in 2017 by about 500 homers.

The 2014 total was baseball’s lowest since 1995.


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