Yankees' Carpenter fractures left foot on foul ball

SEATTLE (AP) — New York Yankees designated hitter Matt Carpenter broke his left foot Monday night when he fouled off a pitch against the Seattle Mariners and will be out indefinitely.

Carpenter, wearing a protective boot in the Yankees' clubhouse after their 9-4 win, said he's hopeful he might only miss a month. But a timeline won't be determined until he sees a foot specialist.

“I don’t want to say a number because I just don’t know, but I’m holding out hope that it’ll be a situation where I could come back in the middle of September and can contribute towards a stretch run,” Carpenter said. “So we’ll see. I mean, that’s my mindset is that I’ll be back.”

Carpenter fouled a slider from starter Logan Gilbert off the foot in the first inning. The left-handed hitter was briefly checked by manager Aaron Boone, but finished the at-bat and struck out swinging on the next pitch.

“I knew something was wrong when I did it, but I thought that I could finish the at-bat, get that run in,” Carpenter said. “But then when I went to swing on the next pitch, I mean as soon as I started to plant and rotate on that back foot, my lower body gave out and I wasn’t able to.”

Boone said he was immediately aware something was wrong and he knew a change was needed when he checked on Carpenter in the clubhouse between innings. Tim Locastro replaced Carpenter in the third.

“I knew he got it good. That’s why I went out there initially,” Boone said. “And I was just like, the way he was moving, I’m like, this isn’t good."

The three-time All-Star was one of the feel-good stories in baseball this year while enjoying a comeback season at age 36. Carpenter was toiling at Triple-A when the Texas Rangers released him in May. He signed with the Yankees