Freddie Freeman exits with apparent ankle injury

LOS ANGELES — All season long, the Dodgers have dealt with a plethora of injuries.

They hope to avoid a massive blow when it comes to superstar first baseman Freddie Freeman, who exited Thursday’s game against the Padres in the seventh inning with an apparent ankle injury. The veteran was in a walking boot and using crutches in the clubhouse after the Dodgers secured the NL West title with a 7-2 win.

Freeman got X-rays after the game, which came back negative, giving the Dodgers optimism that their star first baseman will be ready when they open the National League Division Series next Saturday.

“It’s swollen,” Freeman said. “But they’re pretty optimistic that I should be able to go by Saturday in the playoffs. That’s what I’m banking on. I’ve never rolled an ankle, so I don’t know. It’s pretty large right now.”

Freeman got injured as he sprinted down the first-base line to beat out a wide throw from Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth. After stepping on the bag, Freeman was trying to stop his momentum forward and rolled his right ankle. Immediately after going down, Mookie Betts, who was standing on second base, was in disbelief.

As the Dodger Stadium crowd held its collective breath, Freeman walked off the field with manager Dave Roberts and a trainer. Kiké Hernández took over at first base in the top of the eighth inning.

“I’m not too worried about it,” said Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. “We have no reason to play him this weekend. We could have, potentially, if we needed it. We don’t need it. So we’ll make sure that he’s rested up and ready to go next Saturday.”

Freeman will not travel with the team to Colorado for the final series of the regular season. Instead, he’ll be staying back home to get additional treatment.

It was a scary sight at Dodger Stadium, but it appears the Dodgers avoided a potentially devastating blow.

“Fortunate enough that we have some time off now to heal this thing,” Freeman said. “I’m optimistic. I’ve never hurt an ankle so I can’t really give you guys an answer, but I’ll do everything I can.”