Youkilis says he’ll be ready to play Friday

The stretch run is coming, so this is not a good time for the White Sox to be losing key players to injury.

There was some concern Wednesday at U.S. Cellular Field when Kevin Youkilis had to leave the game with a sprained left ankle in the fourth inning, but the Sox’ new third baseman said it’s minor and he’ll be ready to play Friday at Texas.

“I’ll be good,” Youkilis said. “It’s just mild. I rolled my ankle and it locked up on me. I had to get some work on it and it will be fine.”

Youkilis hit a run-scoring single in the third inning and was still watching the ball when he reached first base. He said his left foot and ankle “just kind of rolled over the bag. It wasn’t smart on my part.”

Youkilis was back at third in the top of the fourth inning but was too restricted to continue playing.

“I just wasn’t moving too well left to right,” he said. “You can’t help the team at third base when you can’t move. I’ll be ready to go Friday.”