Escobar feels lucky to avoid injury after HBP

KANSAS CITY -- When Tigers right-hander Jordan Zimmermann hit Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar in the left wrist with a 90-mph fastball on Monday night, Escobar for a moment thought his season was over.

KANSAS CITY -- When Tigers right-hander Jordan Zimmermann hit Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar in the left wrist with a 90-mph fastball on Monday night, Escobar for a moment thought his season was over.

Escobar said his entire hand felt numb. But as Kenney walked with Escobar up the dugout stairs and toward the Royals' clubhouse a few minutes later, Escobar suddenly started squeezing his left hand and shaking it.

Escobar turned to Kenney and said, "I'm good."

And just like that, Escobar was back in the starting lineup a day later on Tuesday, his 263rd consecutive start, extending his club record.

Teammate Jason Vargas jokes that Escobar is like a shark -- all cartilage and no bones, therefore nothing can get broken.

"Oh yeah. I looked at replay last night and thought, 'Oh, wow. I'm lucky,'" he said.

Yost no doubt breathed a sigh of relief, too. He calls Escobar as hot a hitter as he has on the team. Escobar entered Tuesday hitting .347 since June 10, and he had raised his average over 50 points to .233.

"And he did that after he already had 200 at-bats -- that's hard to do," Yost said.

Escobar has been working diligently with hitting coach Dale Sveum, especially on pitch selection.

"I'm swinging more at strikes than balls," Escobar said. "Before I was struggling because I was swinging at balls. But swinging at strikes, that's the key."