MLB News: Royals' Escobar And Hosmer Out Against Astros Series

Kansas City shortstop Alcides Escobar and first baseman Eric Hosmer are expected to miss the Royals' game against Houston Astros with both players suffering from finger injury.

Escobar, who suffered the injury on Sunday, was a late scratch in Monday’s lineup while Hosmer, who is expected to sit out the series against Astros, sprained his left ring finger on Saturday. Hosmer’s finger swelled up during the Royals' series finale against Oakland Athletics on Sunday after initially injuring it the day before.

“There’s a lot of swelling. So it was hard to grip [Sunday]. When I was throwing, I couldn’t really get any feeling on the side of my finger. So I couldn’t throw a ball. And then the grip just wasn’t right. That’s why I came out of the game. It wasn’t smart to take another at-bat,” Hosmer, who started all but three games as first baseman this season, said via Kansas City Star.

The 25-year-old infielder has played for the Royals ever since his debut on May 2011 and has been out of the lineup just twice in National League parks. Royals manager Ned Yost was not sure about Hosmer’s return, but was certain it will not be in the series against Houston, which will end on Wednesday.

"It's actually feeling better, his hand was swollen up pretty bad yesterday, but a lot of the swelling has gone down. Going to be a couple of days with him... I don't really anticipate him being available for this series,” Yost said a day after Hosmer injured his ring finger as per MLB.com.

Escobar, who shares the lead in all-star voting along with four other Royals, was a late scratch from the lineup after a grounder cracked the nail bed on his right index finger. The 28-year-old Venezuelan threw before Monday’s game to check if he can play and was considered healthy enough for the match, but the team removed him from the lineup an hour before the first pitch.