Blue Jays' Bichette exits game with right knee discomfort on eve of trade deadline
Shortstop pulls up after rounding 1st base in 3rd inning of loss to visiting Orioles
Toronto Blue Jays shortstop and American League batting leader Bo Bichette left Monday night's 4-2 loss to the visiting Baltimore Orioles in the third inning because of a sore right knee.
Bichette hit a two-out single to right field off Orioles right-hander Kyle Gibson and made the turn for second, but started to slow up as he saw Anthony Santander throwing the ball to the infield. Bichette then stopped running and reached for his knee. Shortstop Jorge Mateo came over and tagged Bichette to end the inning.
The Blue Jays said Bichette left the game because of right knee discomfort.
Bichette leads the American League with a .321 batting average. He reached on an infield single in the first and leads the league with 144 hits. The son of former slugger Dante Bichette has 17 home runs and 59 RBI in 106 games this season.
Bad news for the Blue Jays. All-Star Bo Bichette pulls up with an obvious injury rounding first base and is taken out of the game. <a href="https://t.co/Cb1VqJafNc">pic.twitter.com/Cb1VqJafNc</a>
—@thecomebackA two-time all-star, the younger Bichette led the AL in hits in 2022 and 2021.
Santiago Espinal replaced Bichette at shortstop in the fourth and made the final out of the game in the ninth inning.
Toronto entered play Monday at 59-47, tied with Houston in the wild-card race. The Blue Jays came in 5-½ games behind the AL East-leading Orioles.
