Despite Win, Jacoby Ellsbury Injures Ankle

Things were starting to look up again for the New York Yankees, as they bounced back from losing two of three games to the Detroit Tigers in Motor City, to win the opener Friday night against the Blue Jays in Toronto. Not so fast. Speedster and center fielder, Jacoby Ellsbury injured his left ankle Friday night on a slide into home plate.

Fortunately for the Ellsbury and the Yankees, tests have come back negative. Ellsbury injured the ankle attempting to score on a Derek Jeter infield roller, when his leg got caught up in Toronto catcher Dioner Navarro‘s shinguard. Ellsbury was visibly limping after the game, and hopes that he feels good enough to play Saturday. The injury literally added insult, as the first year Yankee was ruled safe on the play, which was later overturned by home plate umpire Mike Everitt.

"“My foot got caught up and it bent it, not allowing me to touch home plate,” he said. “You play the game hard, things like that are going to happen.” (h/t Wallace Mathews-ESPN NY.com)"

The Yankees can ill-afford to lose their hottest hitter, who is 9-for-17, with three home runs–including one in Friday night’s game off of lefty Aaron Loup. He also leads the team in both batting average and runs driven in. Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi thought Navarro violated the plate blockage rule, and that Ellsbury should’ve been ruled safe due to that violation.

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Ellsbury doesn’t want to rule out playing Saturday, but added that it’ll be a “…day-to-day…” situation. Only time and overnight swelling and amount of pain will tell.