OAKLAND — The biggest concern for the A’s on a night where they dropped their second consecutive game against the Astros to begin the season was the status of one of their main spark plugs on offense.
Ramón Laureano was removed from Friday’s 9-5 loss to Houston after jamming his left wrist in the sixth inning on a diving attempt to reach first base on a groundout to the pitcher. Though Laureano went back out for defense in the seventh, the center fielder was replaced by pinch-hitter Tony Kemp in the bottom of the inning.
The X-rays were negative, but it was not immediately clear how many games Laureano could miss due to the issue.
“X-rays showed nothing structural,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “We’ll see how long it is.”
Laureano hit a booming RBI triple to center in the fourth to get the A’s on the board. If he were to miss time, the A’s would likely shift Mark Canha from left to center field, as they did last season when Laureano missed some time due to a suspension. Ka’ai Tom, who made his first Major League start on Friday as the right fielder, also gives the A’s a versatile option who can play all three outfield spots.