Mike Trout Will Miss Six to Eight Weeks With Strained Calf

Mike Trout, the best player in baseball, will miss six to eight with a strained right calf, the Los Angeles Angels announced on Tuesday. Trout, 29, exited Monday’s game against Cleveland at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., in the first inning after grimacing while running the bases. He then limped down the dugout steps.

Already a three-time winner of the American League Most Valuable Player Award, Trout was, by some measures, hitting at career-best rates. Through 36 games, the outfielder was hitting .333 and was leading the majors with a .466 on-base percentage and a 1.090 on-base plus slugging percentage.

Throughout his career, Trout has been a consistent presence in the Angels lineup. From 2012, his first full season, to 2019, he averaged 145 games per campaign. His last significant injury came in 2019, when he missed the final two weeks of the season following foot surgery. He still won the M.V.P. Award with 45 home runs, 104 runs batted in and a 1.083 O.P.S. in 134 games.

Despite his brilliance, and the breakout season of Shohei Ohtani, the Angels entered Tuesday with an 18-22 record, fourth place in the A.L. West.

Trout’s injury was the latest in what has felt like a season full of them. Several star players — including Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton, Toronto Blue Jays outfielder George Springer, Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg and Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager — are currently on the injured list.

Gleyber Torres Cleared to Return to Yankees

Gleyber Torres, the lone Yankees’ player to test positive for the coronavirus during the team’s outbreak, has been cleared to rejoin the team by a committee run by Major League Baseball and the players’ union, Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said on Tuesday.

Torres was en route to Arlington, Texas, where the Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 7-4, on Tuesday thanks to big offensive contributions from D.J. LeMahieu and Gio Urshela. He could be activated from the injured list and back in the lineup on Wednesday, Boone said. Torres worked out at the Yankees’ spring training facilities in Tampa, Fla., on Monday and Tuesday.

Torres, who was asymptomatic, had previously been in isolation in the Tampa area, where the Yankees were playing the Rays last week. He was one of nine people within the Yankees organization to test positive.

Torres’s case, though, was unique: He was not only already fully vaccinated, according to the Yankees, but he had already contracted Covid-19 over the off-season.

Based on the health and safety protocols amid the pandemic, players and key staff members must satisfy a number of requirements to return from a positive test when asymptomatic, including 10 days in isolation. But a joint committee of M.L.B. and players’ union experts overseeing the protocols can review and clear individual cases.

Pillar Cheers From Dugout as Mets Win

Inspired by Kevin Pillar’s return to the dugout, the Mets got homers from Jonathan Villar and Tomas Nido, an unlikely hit from Tommy Hunter and strong performances by a string of relievers to beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-3, Tuesday night.

Villar hit a two-run shot in the third inning, and Nido won it for the Mets in the ninth with a tiebreaking drive into the left-field seats off struggling Braves closer Will Smith.

One night after being struck in the face by a 94.5 mile-per-hour fastball, Pillar brought the Mets’ lineup card to home plate before the game, a gesture that brought a huge sigh of relief to both teams.

With his face swollen and badly bruised, Pillar still managed a smile as he shook hands with the four umpires and Braves coach Walt Weiss, who gave him a warm pat on the shoulder.

Pillar is likely to be out for an extended period, but the injury-plagued Mets carried on just fine without him.

Austin Riley and Freddie Freeman homered for Atlanta. Marcell Ozuna tied it for the Braves with a two-out, broken-bat single in the eighth off Jeurys Familia (2-0).

But Nido pulled it out for the Mets with his second homer of the season off Smith (0-4), who had another poor outing. Edwin Diaz worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his seventh save. ASSOCIATED PRESS