Messi suffered ‘minor muscle injury' in right leg. Here is latest update
He underwent medical exams to determine the extent of the injury and the timetable for his return is undetermined. 'His medical clearance will depend on his clinical progress and response to treatment,' said the press release.
Messi fell to the ground and clutched his leg after being challenged by defenders Raul Sanchez and Alexi Pena at the 11-minute mark of the game. He stumbled, got up, tried to walk it off, but then sat down and sought medical attention. Messi was clearly dejected as he removed his captain's armband and headed to the tunnel.
The 38-year-old Argentine star had been on a hot streak of late with a brace in six of seven matches. He scored 18 goals and had nine assists in 18 MLS games and played 90-plus minutes in 20 matches in a row, including four in the Club World Cup.
He had two assists in Miami's 2-1 Leagues Cup opening win against Atlas last week and was named MLS Player of the Month.
'Obviously, we feel it when he is not on the field, he's the best player in the world,' said goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo, who made a big save in the penalty shootout. 'We want to have him playing. But these are things that can happen to anyone. We have to carry on without him. No excuses.'
Midfielder Fede Redondo added: 'He's our captain, our leader, and we hope he recovers as soon as possible.'
Miami will face Mexican club Pumas on Wednesday at Chase Stadium in the third and final group stage match. The top four MLS teams and top four Liga MX teams advance to the quarterfinals.
As of Sunday night, with 15 of 18 MLS teams having played two games, Miami sat in second place in the MLS side of the bracket with five points (one regulation win for three points, one penalty shootout win for two points). The Portland Timbers, led by former Inter Miami coach Phil Neville, were in first place with six points.
Minnesota and Columbus were third and fourth with four points each.
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New York Times
23 minutes ago
- New York Times
For one night, Jesús Sánchez is the face of the Astros' trade deadline
MIAMI — Caught within Carlos Correa mania and a franchise's reunion with one of its icons is Jesús Sánchez. The acquisition of the ex-Marlins outfielder came together within minutes of Correa agreeing to waive his no-trade clause, rendering the 27-year-old outfielder a footnote of the Houston Astros' frenzied trade deadline. Advertisement Before it began, Sánchez served as an archetype for what the Astros desired. He hits left-handed, ravages right-handed pitching and can play all three outfield positions, ideal for an imbalanced roster that's missing its starting center fielder and witnessing a regression from the rookie playing right. Sánchez fixes all of those flaws. If he and utility infielder Ramón Urías were the extent of Houston's offensive acquisitions, few would've fretted. Correa's availability changed the calculus and cemented him as the obvious face of Houston's deadline. At loanDepot Park, that title belongs to Sánchez. Hovering around .500 prevented Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix from orchestrating a total selloff. Edward Cabrera and Kyle Stowers are still around. So is Sandy Alcantara, despite serious interest from a slew of teams, including the Astros. Sánchez is the lone exception. Fate brought him back to the ballpark four days after he departed. A sparse crowd of 10,827 showered him with a nice ovation before his first at-bat and during a video tribute between the first and second inning. Sánchez flashed the smile that's already become contagious inside the Astros' clubhouse. 'Such a great guy. Not a bad bone in his body,' shortstop Jeremy Peña said after Houston's 8-2 win. 'He's so happy. Always great energy. I admire that about him.' Houston surrendered two prospects and a major-league starter with six years of control for Sánchez's services, signaling how high he sat on the Astros' priority list. On the first day of Sánchez's tenure, manager Joe Espada promised to 'hit him in the middle of the lineup.' He has hit second or third in each of the four games since. 'He's asking a ton of questions,' Espada said. 'He wants to know how we've done it here for so many years. You want to be part of something special, a winning culture, and we've been able to do that for a long time.' On Monday, the roles reversed. Houston's advance scouting meeting began at 4 p.m. Sánchez stood before his new teammates and offered insights into the Marlins' tendencies. Among the topics: how best to attack Alcantara, a portrait of inconsistency in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, but still armed with some of the sport's nastiest stuff. Advertisement 'Seeing Alcantara made me really happy, very happy to see him,' Sánchez said through an interpreter. 'Very excited to see him. Facing him is a lot of fun.' Just a select few can make such a claim. Now, count Sánchez among them. His ringing double during the fourth inning catalyzed a five-run frame from a lineup that sorely needed it. Houston scored six runs and had nine hits against Alcantara. None were struck harder than the 112.2 mph missile Sánchez delivered against Alcantara's first-pitch curveball. If not for a diving play from center fielder Jakob Marsee in the fifth, Sánchez would've had his second multi-hit game in an Astros uniform. 'Honestly, it feels great to be here,' Sánchez said. 'With this group, it's really easy to feel at home. There's a lot of Hispanic players here and we understand each other real well. It just feels good to be here.' Such is the standard for so many that enter Houston's clubhouse. The culture inside of it is unquantifiable, but this season has supplied the closest thing to tangible proof of its existence. New faces have shuttled in and out amid a rash of injuries. All of them have, in some form, contributed to a club that is 13 games over .500. Sánchez is here to offer stability. He will play against almost all right-handed starting pitchers and afford balance that's been missing since Yordan Alvarez fractured his hand. Sánchez does not strike out, nor does he get cheated on many of the swings he takes. His average bat speed of 75.7 mph is in the 93rd percentile of all major-league hitters. His 92.2 mph average exit velocity is in the 88th. Sánchez's defensive metrics are above-average, even if the first four games of his Astros tenure may not reflect it. He has started thrice in left field — the spot in which he is least experienced — and had some adventurous results. Advertisement Overrunning a fly ball in the cramped left-field corner of Fenway Park, forgetting to hit the cutoff man or taking circuitous outfield routes aren't absolute causes for alarm. Aggressive mistakes are always preferred over being afraid of failure. Trying to impress a new team can cause some overcompensation, though Espada sought to squash that upon Sánchez's arrival. When the two men first met, Espada encouraged him to 'play without pressure.' Too many stars are on this team for Sánchez to feel he must be something superhuman. 'With this team, the confidence that this team has is very key, super important,' Sánchez said. 'Confidence is everything you need with this team.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Alexander, Peña help Astros beat Marlins and snap Miami's five-game winning streak
MIAMI (AP) — Jason Alexander pitched six scoreless innings, Jeremy Peña doubled twice and the Houston Astros used a five-run fourth to beat the Miami Marlins 8-2 on Monday night. Alexander picked up his second win of the season after holding Miami to three hits. He struck out six and walked one. The Astros built a 5-0 lead during a disastrous fourth by Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara (6-10), who was perfect his first time through the Houston order before giving up six hits in the inning. Peña led off the fourth with a double. Jesús Sánchez then drove in Peña with a double in his first game against his former team, which dealt him to Houston at the trade deadline. Yainer Diaz added a two-run double, Carlos Correa had an RBI single and Christian Walker drove in another run on a fielder's choice. Alcantara allowed nine hits and six runs. He struck out five over seven innings and threw 100 pitches. TIGERS 6, TWINS 3 DETROIT (AP) — Kerry Carpenter homered in a three-run sixth inning and Detroit rallied for a win over Minnesota. Wenceel Pérez and Dillon Dingler also homered for the Tigers, while Ryan Jeffers, Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner had homers for Minnesota. Detroit has won six of its last eight games since losing 12 of 13. The Twins have lost five of six. Casey Mize (10-4) picked up the win, allowing three runs in six innings while Kyle Finnegan pitched the ninth for his second Tigers save. Noah Davis (0-2) took the loss in relief. PHILLIES 13, ORIOLES 3 PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyle Schwarber homered twice, including a grand slam Philadelphia's eight-run sixth inning, and the Phillies pounded Baltimore. Schwarber finished with six RBIs, running his major league-leading total to 94 on the season. Schwarber's first homer of the game was a two-run shot deep into the second deck that tied it at 3 in the third. He heard 'MVP! MVP!' chants when he came to the plate in the sixth. Schwarber, the All-Star Game MVP, launched his NL-best 40th of the season into the right-center seats off Yaramil Hiraldo for a grand slam that sent the crowd of 41,099 into a frenzy. Harrison Bader homered for the first time since he was acquired by the Phillies at the trade deadline, a tiebreaking three-run shot earlier in the sixth. The Phillies added closer Jhoan Duran and Bader in trades on consecutive days with Minnesota. With his 102.5 mph fastball and electric entrance, Duran was an instant fan favorite in Philly. Bader made his case with a homer off Corbin Martin. BREWERS 3, BRAVES 1 ATLANTA (AP) — Isaac Collins hit a three-run homer, Quinn Priester allowed just one more hit over seven innings after surrendering a first-pitch home run, and Milwaukee beat Atlanta. Priester (11-2) struck out four and walked two while throwing 90 pitches as the Brewers improved to a major league-best 68-44. Jurickson Profar hit Priester's first pitch of the game over the right-field wall to put the Braves ahead. It was Profar's fourth home run of the year. Collins, the NL rookie of the month, made it 3-1 in the fourth with his drive to right. Erick Fedde (3-12), who made his first home start with the Braves, pitched 5 1/3 innings while giving up three runs. Aaron Bummer came in as relief and posted the first strikeout of the game for Atlanta in the seventh inning. PIRATES 5, GIANTS 4 PITTSBURGH (AP) — Isiah Kiner-Falefa's fielder's choice scored Jack Suwinski with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as Pittsburgh rallied to beat San Francisco. Kiner-Falefa hit a hard ground ball to first baseman Rafael Devers but Suwinski beat the throw home. Joey Bart's RBI single off Randy Rodriguez (3-3) earlier in the inning tied the score. It was the fifth walk-off RBI of Kiner-Falefa's career. Dauri Moreta (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning in his second appearance of the season for the win. GUARDIANS 7, METS 6, 10 INNING NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso hit his 251st career homer Monday night to pull within one of Darryl Strawberry's New York Mets franchise record, but Cleveland earned a 10-inning win after squandering a five-run lead. Gabriel Arias' 440-foot, three-run homer to left-center ended a five-run sixth inning against Sean Manaea, who surrendered RBI singles to David Fry and Carlos Santana earlier in the inning. Alonso, starting at designated hitter for the 59th time in his career, hit a 388-foot blast to left-center in the bottom half against Slade Cecconi. The slugger has three homers in his last four games. Alonso had his fourth hit, an RBI single, in the eighth, before Mark Vientos delivered the game-tying sacrifice fly. Cade Smith (4-4) escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the ninth. Automatic runner Daniel Schneemann scored the tie-breaking run in the 10th, when third baseman Brett Baty threw the ball wide of second on David Fry's bunt against Ryan Helsley (3-2). Arias added a sacrifice fly. Nic Enright earned his first career save despite allowing Baty's two-out RBI single in the 10th. RED SOX 8, ROYALS 5 BOSTON (AP) — Jarren Duran hit a three-run homer and Brayan Bello pitched six effective innings, helping Boston beat Kansas City for their sixth consecutive victory. Rob Refsnyder drove in two runs, and Duran added a leaping, run-saving catch in front of the Green Monster in the fourth. Bello (8-5) allowed an unearned run and six hits. The right-hander has surrendered three earned runs or fewer in 13 of his last 14 outings. The Royals got back-to-back home runs from Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia off Jorge Alcala as part of a four-run eighth. But Aroldis Chapman handled the ninth for his 21st save.
CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
Astros beat Marlins 8-2, snap Miami's five-game winning streak
Jason Alexander pitched six scoreless innings, Jeremy Peña doubled twice and the Houston Astros used a five-run fourth to beat the Miami Marlins 8-2 on Monday night. Alexander picked up his second win of the season after holding Miami to three hits. He struck out six and walked one. The Astros built a 5-0 lead during a disastrous fourth by Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara (6-10), who was perfect his first time through the Houston order before giving up six hits in the inning. Peña led off the fourth with a double. Jesús Sánchez then drove in Peña with a double in his first game against his former team, which dealt him to Houston at the trade deadline. Yainer Diaz added a two-run double, Carlos Correa had an RBI single and Christian Walker drove in another run on a fielder's choice. Alcantara allowed nine hits and six runs. He struck out five over seven innings and threw 100 pitches. Peña made it 6-0 with an RBI double in the seventh. Astros reliever Bryan King allowed back-to-back pinch-hit home runs to Javier Sanoja and Derek Hill that made it 6-2 in the seventh. Sanoja connected on a 91 mph fastball and sent it 402 feet to left center. Hill drove a 1-2 sweeper to left. Pinch-hitter Mauricio Dubón restored Houston's five-run lead with an RBI double in the eighth, and Cam Smith added an RBI single. After loading the bases on consecutive two-out base hits and a walk, Alexander (2-1) got Otto Lopez to ground out to keep Miami scoreless in the sixth. The Marlins had a five-game winning streak snapped. Marlins RHP Cal Quantrill (4-8, 4.79) will start the middle game of the series. Houston has not yet announced Tuesday's starter.
