The Boston Red Sox’s starting rotation seemingly was dealt another blow in their loss Friday to the Chicago Cubs.
Rich Hill, Boston’s starting pitcher, was removed from game with a knee injury that he attempted to fight his way through after Red Sox manager Alex Cora, accompanied a trainer, visited the 42-year old midway through the fifth inning.
Hill seemed to twist the knee on a delivery and stayed in the game following the visit, which was something he would later regret.
“I feel stupid for staying in there. To be honest with you I was stubborn,” Hill said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I put us in a really bad position and unfortunately (the loss) falls on me. Stubbornness, staying in and wanting to compete, not wanting to come out. I thought it was gonna kind of be a little tweak or whatever and pitch through it. We’ll find out what the extend of what’s going on is in the next couple of days.
“It was on the first pitch with two outs in the fifth (inning). I believe it was a breaking ball, I just felt a pop in my knee, but I’ve had some MCL issues before in 2019. I thought it might just be something breaking up or some scar tissue or something like that. In the heat of the moment, being out there and competing, it was something I thought I could work through.”
The injury hampered his performance significantly, as Hill would load the bases in the three batters he faced following the injury. Tyler Danish, Hansel Robles and Jake Diekman, the three Red Sox pitchers that relieved Hill over the next 1 1/3 innings, combined to walk five batters and allow three runs on two hits, allowing Chicago to take a lead they wouldn’t give back.
The Red Sox’s next step will be to diagnose Hill’s injury as soon as possible. If a trip to the injured list is in order, another minor-league call up could be in store.
