Raúl Ruidíaz will miss at least two games with hamstring injury

TUKWILA — Coming off one of his best performances of the season and in the midst of a hot run of form, Raúl Ruidíaz is now set to miss at least the Seattle Sounders’ next two games after suffering a hamstring strain in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps. Ruidíaz scored two goals in that game and narrowly missed completing his first Sounders hat trick shortly before coming off the field in the 64th minute. After being slowed by injuries early in the year, Ruidíaz had scored seven goals over his past six games across all competitions. The Sounders have gone 5-1-0 in those matches.

“His MRI came back and he does have a slight pull,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer told the media following Thursday’s training session. “It was not good news.”

Schmetzer suggested that the best-case scenario is that Ruidíaz might be back for the CF Montreal match on June 29, but he could be out until the Portland Timbers match on July 9.

The Sounders have gone 6-2-3 and averaged 2.0 goals per game in matches across all competitions when Ruidíaz has played more than a half this year. They’ve gone 4-4-2 and averaged 1.55 goals per game in all their other matches.

Fredy Montero or Will Bruin will likely replace Ruidíaz in the starting lineup.

“We’ve got Will, we’ve got Fredy, the team is playing well, we don’t want to rush him back,” Schmetzer said.

There was one bit of good injury news, however. Yeimar Goméz Andrade told Schmetzer that he’s ready to play. It may be too early for the centerback to start, but Schmetzer suggested there’s a good chance he’ll at least be available off the bench for Saturday’s match against LAFC.