Boston Red Sox right-hander Hirokazu Sawamura was pulled from Sunday's relief appearance with what the team revealed to be right elbow tightness.
Sawamura helped the Red Sox out of a jam in the sixth inning against the host Toronto Blue Jays before running into trouble in the seventh. Sawamura threw seven consecutive balls to open the seventh and was pulled by manager Alex Cora.
Cora offered the latest after Boston's devastating 9-8 loss to Toronto.
"So what happened to Sawamura, he didn't look great. We took him out as a precaution, right elbow tightness," Cora said. "They check on him after the game, we'll check on him tomorrow and see where we're at."
Sawamura, 33, has been a valuable member of the Red Sox bullpen this season. He entered Sunday having compiled a 2.66 ERA in 40 2/3 innings (41 games).
