Huston Street suffers groin injury complicating Angels’ pursuit of postseason

Huston Street had to be helped off the field in the ninth inning Saturday after suffering a groin injury in the top of the ninth inning against Seattle as he moved off the mound attempting to backup a base on a groundball.

Street is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Sunday to determine the extent of the injury. Manager Mike Scioscia said only that the injury was ‘not good.’ Street previously missed time in July with a groin injury.

[Play a Daily Fantasy contest for cash today!]

Losing Street leaves the Angels with uncertainty in terms of its options at closer as they try to earn a playoff spot. They went into Sunday a half-game out of the second wild card spot in the American League behind Houston.

Scioscia said he will likely go with a by-committee approach, at least initially. Joe Smith, the Angels’ setup man who would usually step into the closer’s role, is also out with an ankle injury. Street handled his injury gracefully.

Injuries happen but what makes them tolerable is the love caring and kindness from my teammates and coaches afterward, God Bless Go @Angels

— Huston Street (@HustonStreet) September 27, 2015

Street leads the AL with 40 saves in 62 appearances. He also has a 3.18 ERA because he has occasionally fallen victim to the big inning and blown save. He gave up five earned runs in loss to Houston on Sept. 13 and three earned runs in a win over Texas on July 26. But Street has been mostly steady and reliable and he will be hard to replace.

[Check out Big League Stew on Tumblr for even more baseball awesomeness.]

If the Angels can make the playoffs without Street, it’s likely Smith will return for the postseason if not at some point in the final week of the regular season.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

– – – – – – –

Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo