Shane Victorino Exits Game With Back Tightness, Will Be Reevaluated on Sunday

Jonny Gomes kicked off the Red Sox’ eighth-inning rally on Saturday, but he wasn’t in the game from the start. Gomes entered as a pinch-hitter for Shane Victorino, whose back apparently stiffened up.

Victorino dropped down a sacrifice bunt with the Red Sox trailing 1-0 in the sixth inning. The bunt got the job done, but Victorino ended up hurting himself a bit.

“On the bunt play, when he laid down the bunt, he came out of the box twisted a little awkwardly [and] started to tighten up a little bit in the lower back, and [for] precautionary [reasons] we got him out of there,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said after Saturday’s game. “So we’ll reevaluate him in the morning. Whether or not he’s available [Sunday] will be determined at that time.”

Victorino was replaced by Gomes when he was slated to lead off the bottom of the eighth. The Flyin’ Hawaiian had been 0-for-2 to that point.

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