KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -Jose Guillen was held out of the lineup Sunday after reinjured his left groin in the Kansas City Royals’ 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night.
Guillen said he hurt his groin coming out of the box on his fifth-inning RBI single. He remained in the game and fans booed when he grounded into a double play to end the seventh and let a B.J. Upton flyball to shallow right drop in front of him in the eighth.
“Some of the fans are yelling at me, ‘Why you not hustle? Why you not hustle?”’ Guillen said. “Sometimes that gets to your head. They can’t see the big (pointing to the wrap around his left thigh). They don’t know how I’m hurting. I’m just trying to help the team.
“I should have been smart and just taken myself out of the game because I could not even walk right. I thought that by staying in the game, it might get better, but it only got worse.”
Guillen leads the Royals with 13 home runs and 67 RBIs, but has not homered since June 23, a span of 91 at-bats.
“He’s sore,” manager Trey Hillman said. “I’m nervous about putting him out in the outfield.”
Hillman said with the Royals facing two left-handed starters, Dallas Braden and Greg Smith on Monday and Tuesday, that Guillen hopefully will get “back in the mix in Oakland.” He said the injury does not appear serious enough to put Guillen on the disabled list.
While Guillen was out, Mark Teahen, who had played in just one of the previous six games because of a stiff lower back, returned to right field in the series finale against Tampa Bay.
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