Kansas City Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia is likely headed back to the injured list after straining his left hamstring Thursday, just three days after returning from a nearly two-month absence. He pulled up rounding third on Salvador Perez's grounder that eluded shortstop Darell Hernaiz for an error in the first inning of a 6-2 win over the Athletics.

"He got it pretty good," manager Matt Quatraro said. "They got an MRI, so he's likely to go on the IL tomorrow. Really tough break for him dealing with this earlier in the season as well. It's the other leg, so hopefully that's a good thing. But it's very frustrating for him and for us."

Garcia had returned Monday after being on the IL since June 23 with a left hand muscle strain. Teammate Bobby Witt Jr., who homered and scored three runs, added, "Anytime a guy's just coming back from an injury we hate to see that. Just hoping that he gets back as soon as possible. It's just unfortunate."