Alex Rios hospitalized with leg injury

[Halladay_is_God]

http://tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=170042&hubname=

TORONTO (CP) - A ''weird'' infection in Alex Rios' lower left shin worsened Thursday and caused the Toronto Blue Jays right-fielder to be hospitalized overnight while receiving strong antibiotics.

Rios was injured when he fouled a ball off his leg during Tuesday's 6-0 win over the Washington Nationals and was given Wednesday off when the area swelled.

After a rough night of sleep, more pain and a redness suggesting infection developed in the area, he was sent right to hospital where he began receiving strong antibiotics.

''Rios isn't doing too good,'' said Jays manager John Gibbons. ''They're going to keep him overnight to see how it develops.''

Team trainer George Poulis described the injury as ''weird'' because there was no visible break in the skin from where the troublesome bacteria may have entered.



''But it only takes the tiniest cut,'' he said.

Poulis said the key was stopping the infection from spreading, which is why Rios was being given strong antibiotics. As for when Rios might return, Poulis said it would depend on how long the antibiotics took to fight off the infection.

For now the Jays don't expect his absence to be a lengthy one. Rios is batting .330 with 15 homers and 53 RBIs in a breakout season.

''It would be a real big loss,'' said Gibbons. ''Hopefully it doesn't turn into anything worse than that.''

[ThomasTomasz]

Wow, thats really serious. I have never heard of anything like that happening, because most of the time a staph infection occurs from large cuts or scrapes. Antibiotics can really knock a person out and take away their strength, and it could be awhile before Rios will return. He has to fight off the infection first, recover his strength lost from the antibiotics, and then rehab to get himself acclimated to baseball again.

[Fishercat]

Update:

Alex Rios remained in the hospital on Friday because of a serious infection in his lower left leg.
Rios' leg was drained on Friday, and manager John Gibbons didn't know yet whether the outfielder would be placed on the disabled list. "It will probably be a few days before he can even get on it," Gibbons said. Reed Johnson, Frank Catalanotto and Eric Hinske will receive extra at-bats while Rios is out.

That's crazy. The odds of getting a strange infection from being hit with a ball? Seriously?

[Rufio181]

This sounds like a serious staph infection, or even MRSA.

[Roy31]

HOpefully they dont have to chop his leg off!

[Fishercat]

And he's still in the hospital...that has to be a ***** of an infection...

Alex Rios remains in a Toronto hospital with an infected left leg.
"He's not out yet, we're being real cautious and it keeps him off that leg," manager John Gibbons said. "But it's getting better." The Jays remain optimistic that Rios will return right after the break.