Angels' Simmons helped off field after jamming ankle on base

Los Angeles Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons needed to be helped off the field after twisting his ankle and jamming his foot against the first-base bag while attempting to beat out a groundball in the eighth inning.

With no more infielders on the bench, Zack Cozart took over at shortstop while Kevan Smith entered the game as the catcher. That sent Jonathan Lucroy to play first base, Tommy La Stella back to second base, and David Fletcher back to third.

While being helped off the field by training staff, the four-time Gold Glove winner seemed unable to put weight on his left leg.

Simmons' injury came in a contest where Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani was hit by a pitch on the ring finger of his right hand. Both players underwent X-rays after the game, with negative results coming back for each.

"I feel like Shohei’s, by all indications he should be fine. Quicker timeframe. We don’t know what Simba’s time frame is," Angels manager Brad Ausmus said, according to Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times. "That’s probably the bigger concern right now. We don’t want to lose either one of them. But it seems like the injury to Simba at this point might be a little bit more dire."

The 29-year-old shortstop has authored a .298/.323/.415 slash line with three home runs and five stolen bases through 46 games this year. Simmons has played at least 145 games in each of the past two seasons and five of the previous six campaigns.