HOUSTON (AP) — Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton left New York’s game Friday night against the Houston Astros in the sixth inning because of tightness in his lower leg.

Stanton hit an RBI single in the sixth in but left the Yankees’ 12-4 victory three batters later when he was unable to score from second on a single by J.C Escarra to the wall in left. Stanton rounded third on the hit but held up.

“He just motioned to me when he was on base, and then, I think he didn’t want to push it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He felt it when he was on second.”

After talking to the trainer, Stanton exited and was replaced by Randal Grichuk.

Boone said it was too early to know how serious the injury is.

“It’s just that, some tightness in his calf,” Boone said. “Hopefully, we got ahead of anything serious. We will see where he’s at tomorrow.”

When asked if Stanton would need more tests, Boone said: “As of right now, nothing, but we’ll see where we are at.”

Stanton is hitting .256 this season with three home runs and 14 RBIs in 24 games.

Stanton has been plagued by injuries and has not played a full season since 2018, his first season with the Yankees. He has been out of the lineup to due injuries to his elbow (2025), left hamstring (2020, 2023 and 2024), left quadriceps (2021) and right ankle and left Achilles (2022) over the last six seasons.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb