SAN DIEGO — Austin Hays, who returned from a Grade 1 right hamstring strain last week, returned to the starting lineup Friday night, and all was good, he said.
“You know the way it goes: The first week playing on these things is always the worst. Once you get through all that, it’s fine,” he said Saturday, before the Sox’ rematch against the Padres at Petco Park.
Because of recurring concern about the soft tissue injury, manager Will Venable said he would take it easy on Hayes for the time being.
“He’s not going to play nine innings,” he said. “We’re not going to press it.”
True to his word, Hays started in right field and, after an eighth-inning single, was yanked from the game for Derek Hill as a defensive replacement. He was not in the lineup Saturday; the recently recalled Jarred Kelenic started in right.
Hays suffered the injury pursuing a fly ball on April 6. He was placed on the 10-day injured list on April 7. He was on a minor league rehab assignment and only days away from being reactivated when Tanner Murray fractured and dislocated his left shoulder making a diving catch against the Nationals on April 26. That sped up Hays’ return.
“I was watching the game when Tanner dove for the ball and it looked like he was hurt pretty badly,” Hays said. “So, I was expecting a call. I pretty much knew it was going to be me because I was only a day or two away anyway. I think I wound up rejoining the team three days early.”
It’s pretty much a restart for Hays, who only played in 11 games and had 39 at-bats before the injury. He’s batting .233 with a homer and seven RBI. Hayes said he learned from dealing with similar injuries in the past.
“Kind of just listening to your body,” he said. “We put timelines on things, but you can’t force it if it’s not there. Sometimes you’re getting better early on. Every day you’re getting better and then suddenly you stagnate. You plateau for a week and it’s staying the same. Don’t try to do too much with it at that point.”
Schultz overcomes tough first inning
Left-hander Noah Schultz spun a fairly spectacular start in Friday night’s 8-2 Sox win over the Padres, allowing two hits over six innings to earn his second win of the season. But it didn’t look like things would work out that way when he walked three to load the bases with two out in the bottom of the first inning. Ty France grounded out to second, ending what could have been a debacle.
From there Schultz allowed Tatis to nab him for a single and triple before leaving having thrown 86 pitches, 28 of them in the first inning. But the Sox offense made it easy by scoring six runs for him in the top of second, capped by Munetaka Murikami’s three-run homer, his league-leading 13th of the season.
“I had kind of a rough first inning,” Schultz said. “Those guys picked me up and scored a lot of runs, helping me to settle in. I got more efficient. That was definitely very helpful. It helped me calm down and settle down a little bit. [Catcher Drew] Romo called an incredible game. You couldn’t ask any more from him.”