Padres slugger Machado headed to injured list with fractured left hand

SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego Padres slugger Manny Machado was placed on the 10-day injured list Friday because of a hairline fracture in his left hand.

Machado was hit by a pitch Monday night. The move was backdated to Tuesday and manager Bob Melvin said there’s a possibility Machado can return when the Padres play at the New York Yankees next weekend.

“It’s getting better, but we’ve got an off day coming up, we didn’t feel like he could play this weekend, we can backdate it three, so he’d be able to come back in New York,” Melvin said before the Padres opened a series against the Boston Red Sox. “That’s not something you want to push on top of that. He’s a guy that can play in pain; we saw it last year. We just want to get ahead of this thing and hope he’s 100% when we get to New York.”

Like the rest of the superstar-studded Padres lineup, Machado is struggling, hitting just .231 with five homers and 19 RBIs. He was an All-Star each of the last two seasons and was runner-up in NL MVP voting last year.

The Padres recalled infielder/outfielder Brandon Dixon from Triple-A El Paso.

The Padres have lost nine of 11 to tumble into fourth place in the NL West, 7 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. San Diego entered this season with World Series expectations after reaching the NL Championship Series last year.

The Padres also placed right-hander Seth Lugo on the 15-day IL with a right calf strain and recalled left-hander Ryan Weathers from El Paso.

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