A Yankees comeback win was spoiled by what looked like a gruesome ankle injury to Oswaldo Cabrera, who was in serious pain after tagging up to score in the top of the ninth and needed to be taken off the field in an ambulance.
Cabrera, the Yankees’ energetic utility man, sidestepped a potential tag and quickly tried to change direction to get to home plate, but he went down before touching home plate with his hand as the training staff rushed to his aid.
The Yanks won the game, but the mood in the clubhouse was a somber one as teammates were focused on the well-being of a teammate they have revered since he made his debut in 2022.
“Very tough,” Clarke Schmidt said. “Obviously with anyone it’s tough, but knowing the player and person [Cabrera] is and showing up to the park every day with a smile on his face…just a great person and a really great spirit. It’s tough.”
As Cabrera was being taken to the hospital, he asked Aaron Judge if he scored the run, which the Yankee captain says highlights the kind of teammate Cabrera is, giving it his all when the game seemed comfortably in hand.
“That’s terrible, especially how much Cabrera means to this team,” Judge said. “For him to get hurt on a play like that, it speaks volumes to the kind of guy he is. We had a little bit of a lead and he was fighting to the very last out. Everyone feels terrible because we know how much he cares, how hard he works, and how much he loves and cares about everybody in this room.”
Cabrera has played whatever position the Yanks have asked of him throughout his career, and his injury clearly shook up the clubhouse as the team awaits word on the severity of the injury.
“As you guys know, he’s the best of the best of them,” Aaron Boone said. “Cabby does it right every day, in how he prepares to do his job, the kind of teammate he is…he is an example in so many ways for anyone to look to for how to go about living your life.”