Yankees put Hicks on 10-day IL with flexor strain

NEW YORK – Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday with a flexor strain in his right elbow, the latest blow to an injury-ravaged team leading the AL East nonetheless.

After getting hurt on a throw Saturday night, Hicks had an MRI on Sunday and New York considered the results pretty good news because the team feared he had a torn ligament that could require season-ending Tommy John surgery.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Hicks will be shut down from throwing for a week to 10 days but is expected back this season – although it was too soon to project a timeframe. The ligament is intact, however, and Tommy John surgery has been ruled out.

Hicks became the 16th player on the Yankees’ current injured list, joining a pair of slugging first basemen who just went down: Edwin Encarnación broke his right wrist when he was hit by a pitch Saturday, and Luke Voit has a sports hernia.

Mets’ Canó limps off after straining left hamstring: New York Mets star Robinson Canó limped off the field after straining his left hamstring while rounding first base.

Canó grabbed at the back of his leg and pulled up after lining a hit to right in the fourth inning Sunday against Pittsburgh, his third hit of the game and ninth hit in his last 15 at-bats. Melky Cabrera threw to shortstop Kevin Newman, who tagged out Canó.

In his first season with the Mets after being acquired from Seattle, the 36year-old Canó was limited to one game between May 22 and June 16 because of a strained left quadriceps. He is hitting .252 with 10 homers and 32 RBIs.

Twins place newly acquired Dyson on injured list: After making two appearances for the Minnesota Twins following his trade from San Francisco, reliever Sam Dyson has gone on the injured list with right biceps tendinitis. Dyson allowed six runs and six hits in his two appearances with Minnesota, wasting a three-run, ninth-inning lead in a loss at Miami on Thursday.

Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter activated: Infielder Matt Carpenter was activated from the injured list by the St. Louis Cardinals and was set to lead off against the Oakland Athletics. Carpenter fouled a ball off his right foot against Pittsburgh on July 15 and missed 17 games with a bruise. Carpenter missed eight games earlierwith a back strain.