The Boston Red Sox were dealt a blow, both to their record and bullpen during Monday night's 10-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park.
With pitching not working in Boston's favor, manager Alex Cora called upon right-hander John Schreiber with one out in the seventh inning. After striking out Mariners first baseman Ty France on three pitches, Schreiber flexed his right hand following a pitch thrown to Seattle star Julio RodrÃguez, signaling discomfort. That prompted Cora and a team trainer to meet with him on the mound before pulling him from the game.
Afterward, Cora provided a brief update on Schreiber, whose injury could lead to some roster shifting with Boston already having endured some hits to its pitching staff.
"It's his (right) lat. He was a little banged up last week, he bounced back. Probably an IL," Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "We'll make sure (to) take care of it and just hopefully he's ready as soon as the stint is over."
Up to that point, Schreiber was among the most reliable bullpen arms for the Red Sox. Before going down against the Mariners, the 29-year-old had previously tossed five scoreless appearances out of the bullpen, allowing just four hits and a walk with five strikeouts through 4 2/3 innings pitched.
Schreiber also recorded a 2.16 ERA in 18 total appearances on the season, striking out 21 hitters while walking eight.
"Any time injuries happen on the field, whether it's a teammate or opposing player you never wanna see it," Monday's starter Tanner Houck said, per NESN. "Terrible thing that that happened. I know that our training staff here is amazing and they'll get him back out on the field as soon as possible. He's an incredible arm in the bullpen for us so hopefully he's back out there soon."
Schreiber's timetable, for now, remains a mystery. Having taken the hit of four consecutive losses, the Red Sox, who are already working with a six-man pitching rotation, could feel the loss of Schreiber very soon. The Red Sox dropped two games behind the New York Yankees for dead last in the American League East and have been outscored by opponents 19-2 in their last two games.
"I'm just frustrated obviously that I'm not gonna be able to compete for I don't know how long," Schreiber explained, per NESN. "... Like I said, we're gonna evaluate tomorrow and hopefully get some really good results and we'll see what happens."
