BASEBALL: Padres' Manny Machado 'fine' after leaving game with leg ailment

Padres third baseman Manny Machado left San Diego's Monday game against the visiting Chicago Cubs after the sixth inning in a precautionary move due to a left leg injury.

Machado grounded out to third to end the bottom of the sixth and didn't return on defense for the seventh. He ended the night with three hits, including two doubles, and three runs.

"He's fine," Padres manager Craig Stammen said on the team's radio broadcast after San Diego won 9-7. "We took him out as a precaution. It looked like he was just going down the line a little slow. He came out of the box a little awkwardly. He had a couple slides at second that didn't feel great on his lower half, so we'll talk to him tomorrow, see how he's feeling and then kind of evaluate him going forward."

San Diego's training staff was shown on Padres TV rubbing Machado's left calf. Ty France moved from first base to third and Gavin Sheets was inserted at first to take Machado's cleanup spot in the lineup.

At the time of Machado's departure, San Diego owned a 6-5 lead.

In the past four games, including Monday, Machado went 8-for-18 (.444) with eight runs. He hit two homers and drove in five runs on Sunday in the Padres' 12-7 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in Mexico City.

-Field Level Media/Reuters