TORONTO (AP)-Chicago White Sox outfielder Darin Erstad feels lucky that he wasn’t seriously injured after spraining his left ankle on Thursday.
Erstad fell awkwardly after swinging and missing on a cut-fastball from Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay in the seventh inning of a 2-0 loss to Toronto.
“I feel like I caught a break,” Erstad said before Saturday’s game. “From what I felt and what I heard, it didn’t look good.”
“It was such a freak thing,” he added. “You do that a million times and nothing happens. You just chalk it up as another weird one.”
Erstad was worried that he had broken the ankle, but X-rays were negative.
“I felt a snap and your mind assumes that,” he said. “You’re preparing for all that stuff and then it doesn’t happen.”
Erstad said the late break on Halladay’s cutter caused him to fall.
“He didn’t fool me,” Erstad said. “I saw it, it just broke so much. It’s obviously a tough pitch to hit.”
The White Sox put Erstad on the 15-day disabled list Friday and recalled outfielder Jerry Owens from Triple-A Charlotte.
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said he expects Erstad to be healthy within 15 days, but Erstad was more cautious.
“I’m not going to start putting timetables on stuff,” he said. “When it’s ready, it’s ready. I’ll just follow what the trainers have me doing.”
Erstad has a walking boot, not crutches, and was limping through the clubhouse without either before Saturday’s game. He said straight ahead movement is fine, but lateral movement remains painful.
Chicago already has two outfielders on the DL. Scott Podsednik has been out since April 16 with a strained right abductor and Pablo Ozuna fractured his right fibula on May 28.
“I didn’t pick a very good time to be out for two weeks,” Erstad said.
Podsednik is expected to have an MRI when the White Sox return to Chicago Monday and could soon begin a minor league rehab assignment. Ozuna is expected to miss at least three months.
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