Giants 2B Sanchez to try rehab before surgery

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The San Francisco Giants will be without another one of their best hitters for a while. Maybe even the entire season.

Trainer Dave Groeschner said Sunday night that second baseman Freddy Sanchez has a dislocated right shoulder that could require surgery and end his season. He said there also was damage to the labrum and the capsule is stretched.

Sanchez will be evaluated this week in Arizona by Dr. Gary Waslewski, who performed surgery on Sanchez's left shoulder in December. The plan is to see how Sanchez's shoulder responds to rehab over the next few weeks in hopes that he could hold off surgery until the offseason and return to the lineup.

Sanchez's injury is the latest blow to San Francisco's hopes of repeating as World Series champions.

Star catcher Buster Posey fractured a bone in his lower left leg and tore three ligaments in his ankle in a collision with Florida's Scott Cousins on May 25. Sanchez, the 2006 NL batting champion with Pittsburgh, was leading the Giants with a .289 average and hitting third in the lineup.

A strong defensive player, Sanchez dislocated his right shoulder Friday against Cincinnati diving for a grounder up the middle. He made a backhand grab of Brandon Phillips' sharp grounder in the fifth inning, using his right hand to brace himself as he slid on the edge of the outfield grass.

Sanchez was on his knees and flicked the ball away with his glove as manager Bruce Bochy and Gruesbeck rushed from the dugout. They had to hold his hand and arm up to brace it before trainers popped it back into place in the clubhouse.