BOSTON — Not only was Mike Carp the hero of Wednesday’s game against the Orioles, but he also came up big despite a nagging injury.
Carp was originally scheduled to be in the Red Sox’ starting lineup Thursday, but John Farrell adjusted his lineup shortly before game time. According to the Sox skipper, Carp has been dealing with a shoulder issue over the past few days.
“He’s experiencing a little left shoulder irritation. It causes him to cut his swing off,” Farrell said after Thursday’s game. “It’s something that’s kind of been coming on the last three or four days, and today in BP he felt that he was unable to go. We kind of feared that if he did push it, does that linger into a couple of more days that he might be needed? So we had to back him out today.”
Carp didn’t play at all in Thursday’s series finale, which the Red Sox dropped 3-2. Instead, Jonny Gomes was inserted into the lineup in left field while Daniel Nava shifted to first base, where Carp was originally slated to play. Gomes went 0-for-4, and Nava went 3-for-4 with two doubles in the loss.
Carp, who is hitting .307 (54-for-176) despite sporadic playing time this season, hit a pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth inning of Thursday’s game to propel the Red Sox to a win.
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