ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ Gary Sanchez stayed overnight in Tampa on Sunday hoping for the best.
The catcher, who left Sunday's game after suffering what he called a groin injury while trying to beat out a double-play ball in the 10th inning, will undergo an MRI on Monday.
"What can I say? That's how baseball is sometimes," Sanchez said through his translator after the Yankees' 7-6, 12-inning loss to the Rays. "You never want something bad to happen, but it's part of baseball. Now I'm just hoping it's not a long time. I have to keep my head up and come back as soon as possible."
Sanchez has struggled at the plate, hitting .190 with a .291 on-base percentage, but still has 14 homers, 14 doubles and 41 RBIs, the fourth-most on the club.
Austin Romine will take over as the starting catcher and Kyle Higashioka is likely to be called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday to serve as the backup.
"You never want to see your starter go down, especially the type of caliber player that Gary is. He's an All-Star," said Romine, who has a .305/.370/.524 slash line in what has been by far the best of his seven major-league seasons. "But we have to move forward. I have to fill in as best I can and I'm looking forward to playing."
