Xander Bogaerts Injury: Alex Cora Gives Update On Red Sox Shortstop

The Red Sox managed to win Tuesday night’s nail-biter in Anaheim despite playing the final two innings without the anchor of their infield.

Franchy Cordero pinch hit for Xander Bogaerts in the ninth inning of Boston’s matchup with the Los Angeles Angels and Kiké Hernández took over at shortstop in the bottom half of that frame. Left shoulder tightness was the official designation for Bogaerts upon his removal from the contest.

Following the Red Sox’s 6-5 triumph in 10 innings, manager Alex Cora addressed the three-time All-Star’s status.

“He’s doing OK,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s Red Sox postgame coverage. “A little bit — shoulder. He ran into Dugie (Alex Verdugo) in Boston. It’s been kind of, like, on and off bothering him. So, we’ll see tomorrow if he’s begging to play. We’ll see how it goes.”

Bogaerts is one game off the team lead for most games played this season. So even if the 10th-year pro is fit enough to play Wednesday night, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to play it safe and give him a deserved day off.

The penultimate contest of the Red Sox-Halos four-game series has a first pitch scheduled for 9:38 p.m. ET. NESN’s full coverage will begin at 8:30 p.m.