Ellsbury Planning to Play Tonight

In the middle of last night's seventh inning, Yankees CF Jacoby Ellsbury left with a sudden injury.

The $153 million offseason signee, currently enjoying a 16-game hitting streak, had run down multiple fly balls in the contest, most notably a bottom of the fifth line drive off the bat of Robinson Cano, which Ellsbury slammed into the wall to catch.

Apparently, that run-saving snag had negative effects on Ellsbury in the long run, as the Yanks' star ended up exiting early with tightness in his right hip.

Despite that, #22 still says he's planning to play in this evening's opener in Oakland, a game the Bombers will probably need a lot of offense in in order to backup David Phelps. 

"It was tight," Ellsbury told MLB.com's Bryan Hoch after the Pinstripes beat the Mariners 6-3. "I'll expect to be in there tomorrow, but I think it was the right decision. I got some ice on it, did everything we could, and I plan on being in there tomorrow."

Ellsbury, who currently leads the team's starters with a .290 batting average, has been the Yankees' best hitter lately, driving in 4 runs in their sweep in Seattle.

The last two, both coming yesterday, took place in the top of the first, when #22 homered off M's Starter Roenis Elias to give the Bombers an early 2-0 lead.