MIAMI -- Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton exited Wednesday's game in the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs with a left wrist contusion but expects to return for Thursday's opener against the New York Mets.
Stanton said he sustained the injury while running into the right-field wall on Chris Coghlan's one-out double in the first. Although he felt some discomfort, he still knocked a homer off righty Jake Arrieta in the bottom half.
"It was just getting tighter and tighter the rest of the game," said Stanton, who went 1 for 3 before being taken out for precautionary reasons. "It'll be fine. Be there tomorrow."
When Stanton missed an 89 mph slider on his strikeout in the fifth inning, he grimaced on the big swing and let go of the bat. He did go out to the field in the sixth, catching the final out.
"It didn't feel too bad on contact," said Stanton, whose left wrist was swollen on the side. "The swings and misses were when they hurt a lot."
Reed Johnson came in as a defensive substitute in the seventh, while Marcell Ozuna moved to Stanton's position in right.
The 24-year-old leads the National League with 20 home runs and 57 RBI and is second in the NL outfielder All-Star voting. He has played in all 71 of Miami's games this season.
"I saw him grimace after his first at-bat, but then he hit that home run," manager Mike Redmond said. "I wasn't too concerned, but I think as the game went along it looked like maybe it would continue to get a little bit sore on him. At that point down 5-1 just wanted to make sure we got him out of there.
"We need this guy for the long haul. He wanted to stay in. I'm thinking about tomorrow and the next day. We got him out of there precautionary."
You can follow Christina De Nicola on Twitter @CDeNicola13 or email her at cdenicola13@gmail.com.
