Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts is leaving Chicago with seven stitches in his left thigh.
Bogaerts suffered a laceration on his leg that needed the attention of the training staff and forced him out of Sunday’s extra-inning win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The injury for Bogaerts occurred when Willson Contreras spiked him while sliding into second base on a steal attempt in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters following the contest that he was unsure if the ailment would keep Bogaerts out Monday when Boston begins an important stretch, starting with a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park.
“We’ll see. Day-to-day,” Cora said, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “We’ll hop on the plane and see how he feels tomorrow. If he’s out, he’s out of the lineup. Obviously, it doesn’t look good. Seven stitches, so we’ll see.”
Bogaerts, who finished 0-for-3 at the plate with a walk, left it up the air as well in terms of his availability going forward.
“I don’t know, man,” Bogaerts said, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “It has some numbness now — (from) whatever they put on it. So, right now I don’t feel anything. I could probably play right now, but I don’t know how it will feel with the stitches and stuff like that tomorrow.”
Bogaerts also said he wasn’t in much pain when the the collision with Contreras occurred, but getting looked at by the medical staff seemed unavoidable.
“I wouldn’t say it hurts, it just didn’t look right,” Bogaerts said. “Obviously, it was like a little hole in there. I just had to get it right. I wouldn’t say it was hurting, it just wasn’t looking right and needed to be taken care of, for sure.”
While the Red Sox avoided a three-game sweep with a 4-2 win over the Cubs in 11 innings on Sunday, Bogaerts sustained the second injury they were dealt in the series. Rich Hill sustained a left knee sprain during Friday’s start, which put the 42-year-old pitcher on the injured list.
