PHOENIX — A bad Tuesday got progressively worse for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and it had nothing to do with a last-inning loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The D-backs started the game without right fielder Justin Upton and ended it also without center fielder Chris Young, injuries knocking out their two most productive outfielders before the season is two weeks old.
Young suffered a right shoulder injury when he ran into the fence in left-center field while catching Pedro Alvarez's fly ball in the fourth inning of the Pirates' 5-4 victory, which came on Andrew McCutchen's RBI single in the ninth. X-rays were negative, but Young could not lift his shoulder after the game and an MRI is scheduled for this morning.
Upton had fluid drained from his left thumb after an MRI in the afternoon revealed a bone bruise from an April 8 injury. While Upton returned to the field Tuesday, he was unable to play. The D-backs are calling both injuries day-to-day, but it seems clear that both Upton and Young will miss several more days, even in a best-case scenario.
"With what Chris has already done this season, the disappointment of losing him is tough for a lot of us right now," said D-backs shortstop John McDonald, whose homer in the last of the eighth tied the score at 4.
"Everyone is anxious to see how he feels in the morning. Any result that you get in a ball game after one of your teammates goes down is very small in comparison."
Young's injury was called a contusion, but neither manager Kirk Gibson nor Young would rule out a separated shoulder.
The D-backs will recall center fielder A.J. Pollock from Triple-A Reno in time for Wednesday's 12:40 p.m. series finale after placing Geoff Blum (side) on the disabled list. Blum was said to have suffered a muscle tweak in pregame batting practice.
"I knew it wasn't a homer, so if it's not a homer I'm going to take a shot at going to get it," said Young, who said he had a little more room in front of the wall than he expected after making the catch.
Young, whose fast start has him all over the NL statistical leaderboards, leaped as he made the backhanded catch, and his right shoulder rammed into the fence before he could do anything to cushion the impact.
Gibson and trainer P.J. Mainville ran out to the field as Young stayed down on the warning track. Young massaged his shoulder and then moved his arm above his head to test his range of motion before leaving with Mainville.
"I've made plays like that in the past, and I think I was able to time my jump a little bit better and brace myself as little bit more," he said. "I think I hit right in the crack of the wall, and it is kind of hard. As I was going down, I hit my shoulder. I thought I just lost my breath, then as I was laying there I realized my shoulder was hurting a little bit. It stayed a little tight on me, so I came out the game.
"It's a little tighter now. I can't lift it right now. We'll see; I'm sure it's in a little bit of shock. All we can do right now is ice it and do a little 'stim' machine on it and hope it feels better in the morning."
Gibson said Upton will not play Wednesday, and Young also is expected to be out. The D-backs sent Upton to hand specialist Dr. Don Sheridan because his thumb did not respond to earlier treatment.
"Everything came out pretty positive. They had to go in and drain fluid. It's something that they thought would help," said Upton, adding that he hoped to avoid the disabled list.
"I hope so, but I really don't know," he said about the DL. "I'm going to come in tomorrow and see how it feels. Come in the next day and see how it feels. It's one of those things where you have to give it a little bit of time. Right now, it doesn't look like we have the time, but I want to make sure it's where I can swing the bat 100 percent."
The D-backs are likely to start Jason Kubel, Pollock and Gerardo Parra on Wednesday, left to right. Pollock, the last outfielder sent out at spring training, was off to a strong start at Reno, hitting .340 with six doubles, five RBI and four stolen bases. He is a true center fielder, more so than Parra, who is better suited to the corners.
A former 2009 first-round draft pick, Pollock had a big season at Double-A Mobile last year, hitting .307 with a franchise-record 41 doubles. He missed all of 2010 after suffering a fractured growth plate in his right elbow in spring training.
Young, who doubled and scored in a two-run first inning, is second in the NL with five homers, second with a 1.397 OPS, third with a .410 batting average and tied for third with 13 RBI. He hit safely in 10 of the first 11 games, held hitless only when Colorado pitched around him and walked him twice on April 13.
His injury seemed to take the steam out of the offense, which had only one hit after Ryan Roberts and Lyle Overbay opened the fourth with singles, that coming on McDonald's first homer as a D-backs player with one out in the eighth.
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