“He got called away from this game,” Farrell told reporters after the game. “There was a family emergency that he had to attend to, and he jumped on a flight late (Sunday) afternoon. He should meet us in Pittsburgh, but this is something that he had to get to.”
Catcher Christian Vazquez pinch-hit for Ortiz in the seventh inning of the Red Sox’s eventual 8-4 win over the Kansas City Royals and proceeded to strike out and ground into a double play in his two at-bats. Ortiz went 0-for-3 with two K’s before exiting.
The Red Sox open a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday.
UPDATE (2 p.m. Wednesday): Ortiz tweeted Wednesday that the emergency he was attending to was a family funeral.
[tweet https://twitter.com/davidortiz/status/511536915506794496 align=’center’]