Werth getting X-ray on ankle

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Jayson Werth grimaces after fouling a ball off his left ankle Monday night.

ATLANTA — Out of the Nationals' lineup for the second straight game, right fielder Jayson Werth was due to undergo an X-ray of his left ankle, still swollen badly after he fouled a pitch off it during Monday night's game.

Werth didn't have reason to believe he broke any bones, "but after two days, you run out of things to do. You can only ice for so long."

Werth has yet to really test the ankle since injuring it in the eighth inning of Monday's game. He jogged a bit on Tuesday but refrained from any other physical activity. He did taking batting practice before tonight's game.

Werth said he'd never hit a foul ball off his ankle quite like that before, specifically in that location (directly on the inside ankle bone).

"This is just a bad spot," he said. "The doc yesterday said it's kind of a sensitive area, with nerves running right through there. He was saying that a quarter-inch either way and it would've been even worse. It would've hit a tendon or a big vein that runs right there. He said if I got it there, it would've been worse. So I've got that going for me."

Werth is also dealing with a sore hamstring. He's less concerned about that than the ankle injury, but manager Davey Johnson doesn't want to rush his veteran right fielder back and risk the hamstring getting worse.

"A bad bruise on the ankle is something that probably won't get much worse," Johnson said. "It's probably hard to run, probably hard to land on. But a tight hamstring, you can pull it. You can be out for a couple weeks. And that's something I don't want to take a chance on."