SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -Giants infielder Rich Aurilia will be sidelined for a couple of days after receiving three more injections in his neck Monday to alleviate the pain that has bothered him for six weeks.
Aurilia arrived late at the ballpark for Monday night’s 4-3 victory over Toronto and didn’t play after receiving the shots in the left side of his neck. He said he will likely sit out Tuesday and Wednesday as well before returning to action for a three-game series in Boston starting Friday.
Aurilia missed four starts last month because of a stiff neck that required shots. This time, Aurilia said he received “epidural-type injections” between three vertebrae. He was still groggy and recovering from a long day that included him needing an IV.
Aurilia had hoped the problem would clear up for good with the first round of shots.
“It came back again,” he said. “I’m down till we get to Boston. Hopefully this works. It couldn’t hurt (to do it). Hopefully this is the final thing to knock it out.”
Aurilia went 2-for-4 in Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Oakland after going 0-for-6 in his previous three games. The 35-year-old Aurilia is batting .241 with two home runs and 19 RBIs in his second stint with San Francisco, but hasn’t homered in 47 at-bats since connecting May 20 off Joe Kennedy of the Athletics.
Aurilia signed an $8 million, two-year deal in December to return to the Giants as the team’s primary first baseman, though he has been sharing duties with Ryan Klesko and has been filling in all over the infield.
He helped San Francisco reach the World Series in 2002 despite struggling with injuries. The Giants went 82-46 with him in the lineup that season and 13-20 when he didn’t start, and Aurilia had a team-leading 17 RBIs during the postseason. He had six home runs in 17 postseason games, a Giants run that fell short against the wild-card Angels.
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