Blackmon injures calf, leaves game

PITTSBURGH» Rockies right fielder Charlie Blackmon injured his right calf in a 14-6 loss to the Pirates on Thursday at PNC Park.

“(The trainers) said this isn’t the kind of thing you want to take lightly,” Blackmon said afterward. “You want to make sure you are good to go.”

Blackmon, however, said it’s too early to tell if he will miss any games.

The Rockies open a 10-game homestand on Friday against Baltimore.

“We’ll have to see how I react,” he said. “So we’ll see tomorrow.”

Blackmon fouled a pitch off his right calf during an at-bat in the third inning and then aggravated the calf making plays in right field in the bottom of the inning.

Blackmon was removed from the game in the fourth inning, replaced by Ian Desmond.

“I fouled a ball off my calf, not a big deal,” he said. “I had a pad down there and everything. But running after that ball, it kind of tightened up on me.”

After the game, Blackmon said his calf felt “about the same.”

“I put some ice on it and that kind of stuff,” he said. “I’ll rest it and we’ll see tomorrow.”

Blackmon has been on a hot streak. He has hit safely in 28 of his last 30 games and has reached base safely in 18 consecutive games.

He is batting .300 with 10 home runs and 31 RBIs.

Outfield crunch.

If Blackmon is out for the short term, it will present an issue. The Rockies have been playing with just four outfielders, because they are going with two second basemen, Ryan McMahon and recent call-up Brendan Rodgers, plus they’re using Daniel Murphy, Mark Reynolds and McMahon at first base.

Should Blackmon miss only a few games, but not go on the 10day injured list, the Rockies would be left searching for someone on the current 25-man roster to play the outfield in a pinch.

If Blackmon does go on the IL, however, the team would recall an outfielder from Triple-A Albuquerque.

Homegrown lineup.

Thursday’s lineup marked the first time in franchise history in which the all of the starters in the lineup were originally signed by Colorado as either Rockies draftees or nondrafted free agents and made their major-league debuts as Rockies.

The last time a big-league starting lineup consisted of only homegrown players was the Mets on July 9, 2018.