The Red Sox were already getting buried by the Yankees on Sunday, and that made Willson Contreras’ early exit look more precautionary than dramatic.
Boston was hammered 16-1 in the finale of its four-game set with New York, but the game was still scoreless going into the fifth before the Yankees broke it open. Jazz Chisholm Jr. sent a ball to center field with a man on and no outs, and it looked as if Ceddanne Rafaela had made the catch and turned it into a double play by firing to first. The play was reviewed, though, and overturned.
That ruling changed everything. Instead of Boston getting two outs and clearing the bases, New York wound up with runners on first and second and then put up five runs in the inning.
The Yankees tacked on one more in the sixth, another in the seventh, and then completely blew it open with a nine-run ninth. Five of those ninth-inning runs came against Andruw Monasterio.
Lost in the blowout was Contreras leaving in the seventh inning with Boston already trailing 6-0. Nick Sogard came in at first base, while Monasterio moved to second.
Afterward, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy explained the move, telling Christopher Smith of MassLive.com that Contreras was dealing with a tight hamstring.
"The hamstring was a little tight. Just felt like at that point of the game, I don't want to push it. So we got him out of there," Tracy said.
That decision made sense for a player Boston has been managing carefully for a while. Contreras has been dealing with the issue for some time, including earlier in the month when he did not run full speed to first base and drew boos from the Fenway Park crowd.
The Red Sox need him healthy if they want to make any real noise. He has been their most consistent hitter this season, and while getting Roman Anthony and Trevor Story back helps, Contreras has still been the club’s most important bat.
With Boston now having lost the season series to New York and sitting four games back, the path to the top Wild Card spot looks steep. That makes health the priority from here on out. Sonny Gray is being skipped in the rotation for that reason, and if Contreras needs a few days off too, Boston should take the same approach.
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