A scary moment Tuesday night ultimately left Hanley Ramirez with nothing more than a bruise.
Ramirez fouled a pitch off his left knee during the third inning of the Boston Red Sox’s 1-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. He writhed in pain for several moments and was removed from the game after completing his at-bat.
The Red Sox left fielder walked with a pronounced limp back to the dugout, but manager John Farrell announced after the game that Ramirez had avoided serious injury.
“X-rays were negative,” Farrell said, as aired on “Red Sox Extra Innings LIVE.” “He’s got a contusion on the inside of his left knee. He’s a little sore, but nothing structural.”
Ramirez, who went 0-for-1 with a walk before being replaced on the basepaths by Rusney Castillo, was confident he’d be back in the lineup Wednesday night.
“I’m playing (Wednesday),” he told reporters. “Nothing we’ve got to worry about.”
Some additional notes from Tuesday’s loss, which featured another sterling performance from Red Sox rookie starter Eduardo Rodriguez:
— The game’s lone run came on a seventh-inning wild pitch by reliever Matt Barnes. For that, Barnes took the loss — the first of the UConn product’s major league career.
“It’s tough,” Barnes told reporters after the game. “You want to come and put up a zero for your team, give them a chance to go out there and put up some runs, especially considering the way (Rodriguez has)Â pitched. It’s unfortunate, but back to work (Wednesday), and go from there.”
— Castillo struggled in his two plate appearances. First, he flied out to right on a 3-0 pitch with two outs, a runner on third and David Ortiz on deck.
Farrell confirmed after the game that the outfielder was given the option to swing away.
“There was a green light, yes,” the manager told reporters. “Against a left-hander (Orioles reliever T.J. McFarland), thinking he’s got a chance to put a pretty good swing on the ball. Unfortunately, it turns into a fly ball to right field.”
Castillo then failed to execute a sacrifice bunt in the eighth inning, as catcher Matt Wieters was able to gather the ball in time to gun down the lead runner, Dustin Pedroia, at third. There appeared to be some confusion between Castillo and third base coach Brian Butterfield during the at-bat, but Farrell again confirmed the correct play call was conveyed.
“He ends up getting a bunt down, and Wieters makes a great play, jumps out from behind the plate and knocks down the lead runner,” Farrell told reporters. “But we were just trying to make sure the communication was clear.”
The Red Sox trailed by a run at the time, and O’s closer Zach Britton proceeded to strike out both Ortiz and Mike Napoli to strand two runners and end the evening’s final legitimate threat. Boston finished the game 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
—Â San Francisco Giants rookie Chris Heston no-hit the New York Mets on Tuesday. The last first-year pitcher to twirl a no-hitter? That would be Clay Buchholz, who accomplished the feat back in 2007 in just his second major league start.
Thumbnail photo via Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports Images
