SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Giants right fielder Carlos Beltran was out of the lineup for Monday night’s series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates because of an injured right hand.
Beltran underwent an MRI exam on the hand Monday as a precaution, manager Bruce Bochy said. Results weren’t immediately available as the Giants were waiting on team orthopedist Ken Akizuki to arrive at AT&T Park to read the scans.
“We’re hoping for good news there. We don’t think it’s serious but we need to get it checked out,” Bochy said. “We are waiting on the results to see if there is something going on, something we need to take care of and see if we need to treat it in a different way.”
Beltran came out of Sunday’s 3-1 win over the Phillies after experiencing a sharp pain in the top of his hand while striking out swinging to end the sixth inning. X-rays were negative but Beltran had a hard time gripping the bat. He said he hasn’t experienced this type of injury previously.
But San Francisco’s training staff won’t take any chances after losing free-swinging third baseman Pablo Sandoval for 40 games earlier this year with a fractured hamate bone in his right hand that required surgery.
Beltran, who had planned to test his hand with some early hitting work Monday, checked in with the Giants in the morning to tell them he was sore.
“We’re getting ready to go on the road, so it makes sense to get this thing looked at,” Bochy said. “We don’t want to kick ourselves once we hit the road and we didn’t get this thing checked out.”
Nate Schierholtz started in right in place of Beltran, batting fifth.
Beltran is batting .244 with a double, two triples and two RBIs in 11 games for the Giants since being acquired in a trade from the New York Mets on July 28.
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