Padres' Laureano to miss 1st round of playoffs with broken finger

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Ramón Laureano of the San Diego Padres broke his right index finger on Wednesday in a 3-1 loss to the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers and manager Mike Shildt said the outfielder will miss the first round of the playoffs.

Laureano shook his hand after fouling off a pitch in the second inning. He took a called third strike to end the nine-pitch at-bat, and was replaced in right field by Bryce Johnson in the top of the third.

Laureano was a key acquisition at the trade deadline on July 31, coming over from Baltimore along with Ryan O'Hearn.

He helped carry the Padres offensively since then, hitting nine homers and driving in 30 runs for his new team.

The Padres clinched a postseason berth Monday night with a 5-4, 11-inning win over the Brewers. San Diego won 7-0 Tuesday night to pull within 1.5 games of the Chicago Cubs in the race for the National League's first wild-card spot and within 1.5 of the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Padres were also without star right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. for the third straight game. The team has said only that he has an illness, with symptoms including nausea, chills and a fever.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB