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Indians' Kipnis day-to-day with hamstring soreness

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

Despite missing Friday's series opener at Target Field due to soreness in his right hamstring, Cleveland Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis could return to the lineup before the end of the weekend, according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.

"He showed up and actually exhibited pretty good strength," manager Terry Francona said prior to Friday's 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins. "He's sore enough where we're not going to play him today. We would see about tomorrow, but I think we're more in that range, as opposed to four or five days. I think when you say 'day-to-day,' we really are legitimately day-to-day."

Francona omitted Kipnis from Wednesday's lineup to give his legs some rest, but the veteran manager admitted he probably should have also held him out of Thursday's game. 

"I might've messed up with it," Francona said. "Looking back, I guess maybe those are where I probably have a tug-of-war with myself (deciding) what's right and what's wrong. When he came out of the game (Thursday night), man, he was like, 'I'm sorry.' I said, 'Don't ever say that. You're trying your (tail) off to play.'"

The 27-year-old has stumbled through a trying season in which he hit just .242/.314/.332 (85 OPS+) with six home runs and 22 stolen bases in 125 games.

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