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Jay Bruce leaves Phillies game vs. Braves with tight hamstring

The outfielder might have tweaked the hamstring when he tried to score from first base on a double to right field by Scott Kingery.

Jay Bruce, here batting against the Reds, left Saturday's game after the fourth inning.
Jay Bruce, here batting against the Reds, left Saturday's game after the fourth inning.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

ATLANTA — Jay Bruce has hit so well through his first two weeks with the Phillies that it’s difficult to imagine where they would be without him.

They might be about to find out.

In the latest injury to hit the Phillies, Bruce left Saturday night’s game against the Braves after the fourth inning with what the team characterized as “left hamstring tightness.” He was replaced in left field by Nick Williams.

Although it wasn’t evident how Bruce was injured, it’s possible it occurred in the third inning when he attempted to score from first base on a double to right field by Scott Kingery. Bruce was involved in a play at the plate in which he was initially called safe. A replay challenge by the Braves revealed that catcher Tyler Flowers had tagged Bruce before he touched home plate.

Bruce drove home the Phillies’ first run of the game with an infield single. He’s 13-for-39 (.333) with two doubles, five home runs, 14 RBIs, and nine runs scored in 11 games since being acquired in a June 2 trade with the Seattle Mariners for minor-league infielder Jake Scheiner.

The Phillies are already shorthanded in the outfield. Andrew McCutchen was lost for the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on June 3, one week after Odubel Herrera was placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball during an investigation into a domestic assault incident involving his 20-year-old girlfriend in an Atlantic City casino hotel.

Center fielder Roman Quinn was nearing a return after missing the last seven weeks with a right groin strain. But he suffered a minor setback Friday night when he got hit by a pitch on the shoulder in a minor-league rehab assignment for double-A Reading.

Rookie outfielder Adam Haseley also is on the injured list with a groin strain.

If Bruce has to go on the injured list, the Phillies’ healthy outfielders will be limited to Bryce Harper, Williams, and Scott Kingery, a natural infielder who has been playing center field.