The night for Boston Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez ended a lot sooner than expected.
Martinez left Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park in the third inning after he hit a double down the left-field line. Martinez had no problem getting out of the box on his hit, but as he made his way to second, he seemed to grimace in pain as he reached the bag.
After a quick discussion with a member of Boston’s training staff and Red Sox manager Alex Cora, Martinez came out of the game. Utility man Christian Arroyo replaced Martinez.
Martinez put together a strong performance at the plate up to that point with two hits in as many at-bats, including driving in a run with a single to right field in the bottom of the first inning.
For the Red Sox, the third inning almost became even more disastrous three batters later when Blue Jays starting pitcher Jose Berrios drilled infielder Trevor Story in the head with a pitch. After a long talk with Cora and the training staff, Story remained in the game.
