Matt Carpenter fractures left foot on foul ball amid resurgent season with New York Yankees

SEATTLE — Matt Carpenter's dream comeback season with the New York Yankees might have come to an early end Monday night.

Carpenter, 36, broke his left foot when he fouled off an 89 mph slider from Seattle Mariners starter Logan Gilbert in the first inning.

After hobbling in pain, Carpenter was briefly checked by manager Aaron Boone but finished the at-bat and struck out swinging. Tm Locastro replaced Carpenter at DH in the third inning.

«My mindset is that this won't be the end for me here this year,» Carpenter said. «I'm hopeful that I can come back and contribute.»

A front-runner for American League Comeback Player of the Year, Carpenter is batting .305 with 15 home runs and 37 RBIs in just 128 at-bats for New York this season, and had reached base in 27 of his 35 starts. Last month, he batted .356 in 73 at-bats.

All this came after hitting seven home runs in 418 plate appearances over the previous two seasons.

The Texas native signed with the Yankees in May after he was released by the Texas Rangers, for whom he spent the first month and a half of the season toiling at Triple-A.

Since debuting with the Yankees on May 26, Carpenter has a .727 slugging percentage, the best in MLB during that span (minimum of 100 plate appearances). New York has averaged 6.5 runs per game with Carpenter in the lineup and 4.8 runs without him.

No player has had a higher OPS than Matt Carpenter this season (minimum 100 at-bats).

Carpenter entered Monday night's game following an emotional series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the team with which he spent the first 11 years of his career. Carpenter received a lengthy standing ovation prior to his first at-bat and went 2-for-12 in the series at St. Louis.

It's the latest significant injury