The Boston Red Sox suffered an ugly 10-1 loss to the New York Yankees on Wednesday, and they lost an important player in the process late in the game.
In the top of the ninth inning, Eduardo Nunez hit a dribbler down the first base line that was scooped up by Yankees pitcher Justus Sheffield and flipped to first base. Nunez, widely known for his admirable trait of always sprinting and hustling down the line, made it to first safely. But in doing so he seemed to aggravate his knee a little bit. Sox manager Alex Cora and team medical staff came out as a result, and Nunez left the game.
Particularly concerning is that Nunez’s knee forced him out of the playoffs last season when he re-aggravated an injury from earlier in the season running down the line in his first at-bat of the American League Divison Series. Though Nunez has remained relatively reliable this season health-wise, he has been candid that making his way back from the injury has had its peaks and valleys.
After the game, Cora downplayed the severity of the injury, but he noted that Nunez won’t play in Thursday’s series finale.
“He felt it a little bit when he was running to first, so he decided to make sure we treat him,” Cora said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “He’s not going to play tomorrow, obviously, we’re going to take care of him. But it should be something mild, nothing too serious. But the first thing he said is: ‘If they hit a ball in the gap, I’m going to get going and I don’t want to get hurt,’ so I think it was a smart thing to do.”
Nunez has been essential to the Red Sox this season, especially of late as he’s served as the regular third baseman, so having him fully healthy down the stretch and into the playoffs is key.
Here are some other notes from Wednesday’s Red Sox-Yankees game:
— David Price’s struggles at Yankee Stadium continued Wednesday. The southpaw allowed six runs (four earned) on five hits with four walks and two strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings of work. Three of those five hits were home runs.
Though he fell victim to a couple tough bounces and didn’t benefit from Yankee Stadium’s short porch in right field, the showing was a stark contrast to the way Price has been pitching since the All-Star break.
— Price wasn’t the only Sox pitcher to have a bumpy outing. Joe Kelly again got torched out of the bullpen, allowing two runs on three hits over just 1/3 of an inning.
It’s been a long fall for Kelly, who over the course of the season has gone from one of the league’s top late-inning relievers to possibly not making the postseason roster. The Red Sox have given him plenty of chances to get back on track, rolling him out in a variety of situations, but after improving in the month of August, the right-hander has struggled and been unreliable in September — especially in big moments.
