Yankees 3B Oswaldo Cabrera leaves game vs. Mariners in ambulance following awkward home plate slide

SEATTLE (AP) — Yankees third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera was taken off the field in an ambulance after he injured his left ankle in the ninth inning of New York’s 11-5 victory over Seattle on Monday night.

Cabrera was hurt on an awkward slide when he reached back for the plate and scored the Yankees’ final run on Aaron Judge’s sacrifice fly.

Manager Aaron Boone said Cabrera had a brace put on his left ankle before entering the ambulance on a stretcher. Cabrera was taken to a hospital with team athletic trainer Tim Lentych.

“I think everyone understands it was a pretty serious situation,” Boone said. “So, just praying for our guy (Cabrera) tonight and hoping for the best. Trust that he’s in good hands as he goes through the night here.”

Cabrera, a 26-year-old native of Venezuela, writhed on the ground and stayed down for several minutes while being attended to by various medical personnel.

“Right before he got carted off, he just called me over and said, ‘Hey, did I score?’” Judge said. “So, just kind of shows you what type of guy he is. Something like that happens and the one thing on his mind for all the pain and everything is, ‘Did I score?’”

Cabrera is in his fourth MLB season and has become a regular in the Yankees’ lineup. He is hitting .243 this season with one home run and 12 RBIs.

“He cares for everybody in this room. He loves being a Yankee,” Judge said. “He wears his jersey with pride. This is a tough one, especially a guy that’s grinded his whole life and finally got an opportunity to be our everyday guy and been excelling at it.”