The Boston Red Sox have enough ailing players to fill an infirmary ward, and Rick Porcello nearly joined the walking wounded Sunday.
The Red Sox ace had just allowed his third run of the afternoon in the fourth inning when he nearly collided with Detroit Tigers third base coach Dave Clark while running behind the base to back up a potential throw to third. Porcello landed awkwardly and came up holding his left leg in a limp. (Click on the photo below to see a video of the play.)
Manager John Farrell came out to check on Porcello, but the right-hander insisted he was fine, throwing just one warm-up pitch before continuing his outing. He faced 10 more batters after the injury scare, leaving with a no-decision in Boston’s eventual 7-5 win at Comerica Park.
“I just kind of landed awkwardly,” Porcello told reporters after the game, as aired on NESN’s “Extra Innings Live.” “I was going back to third to back up the base and was watching the ball and didn’t see (Clark). I heard him say something and then I tried to move, and just kind of landed awkwardly. It scared me more than anything, but I’m good to go.”
The Red Sox are glad to hear that news, considering David Price is sidelined for the considerable future and Drew Pomeranz is recovering from an injury in Boston’s depleted rotation.
The club also is dealing with a nasty bout of the flu and a recent baserunning injury to Jackie Bradley Jr., so it’s safe to say the Sox are banged up right now. But it appears Porcello has escaped the wrath of injury gods.
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— Bradley has a sprained ligament in his right knee resulting from his injury Saturday, Farrell revealed after Sunday’s game. The Red Sox will send the center fielder back to Boston for more tests, but both Bradley and the team are hopeful he won’t need a trip to the disabled list.
“It feels better,” Bradley told reporters after the game, as aired on NESN’s “Red Sox Final.” “Actually clinically, I feel pretty good. …Â I feel like I can move around pretty good.”
— Porcello didn’t have his best stuff Sunday, but he still extended an impressive run: The right-hander has thrown six-plus innings in 20 consecutive starts dating to June 28, the longest active streak in the majors.
— Sandy Leon was a force at the plate and behind it against the Tigers. In addition to delivering the go-ahead single in the eighth inning, the Red Sox catcher threw out Miguel Cabrera at second base in the seventh inning to make him a perfect 3-for-3 on the season.
Boston’s backstops are 4-for-4 in throwing out runners through four games, marking the first time the club has thrown out three attempting base-stealers to start the season since Carlton Fisk did so in 1977.
— As if the Red Sox’s luck couldn’t get any worse, minor league pitcher Brian Johnson exited his start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Saturday after being hit in the head with a line drive. Johnson walked off the field under his own power, though, and appears to be OK.
Thumbnail photo via Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY Sports Images
