Red Sox Notes: Boston Avoids Mess After Ugly Looking Injury

BOSTON — It didn’t last very long, but there was a point in Saturday’s win over the Los Angeles Angels that the Red Sox looked like they might be snakebitten.

Red Sox second baseman Enmanuel Valdez went down in the fifth inning, not only running into an out on the base paths, but appearing to suffer an ugly injury in the process. He slipped after almost stealing second base on a pickoff attempt, but was short of the bag and eventually had Angels first baseman Miguel Sano fall directly on his planted hand.

Sano, with all due respect, is a big boy. It looked ugly.

It’s baseball and injuries happen, but in the moment, a dumb-luck play seemingly set Boston up for more roster shuffling and one major negative to an otherwise great day.

Valdez, as it turns out, will be fine.

“He should be OK,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters postgame. “He’s not starting tomorrow, anyway, so we’ll check on him in the morning.”

Valdez’s injury was described as a thumb contusion, which carries a minimal shelf life. He tried to fight through it, but Cora pulled him from the game to give him rest. Valdez should be back in the lineup for whenever Boston faces another right-handed pitcher, which is expected on Patriots’ Day.

Crisis averted.

Here are more notes from Saturday afternoon’s matchup between the Red Sox and Angels:

— Red Sox slugger Triston Casas hit the furthest home run of his career in the first inning, carrying the ball 429 feet to right field. It was far, but not far enough to reach the red seat, which had him thinking.

“It’s looking more and more out of reach as I hit balls in that direction,” Casas said. “… It felt good initially, but I was kind of demoralized when I saw where it landed.”

— Cora participated in the Boston 5K prior to the game, earning a medal for completing the race. The Red Sox repurposed it as a home run celebration.

— Boston also revealed the origins of its hit celebration, which stem from a poker game on the team plane on their way to Opening Day in Seattle.

— The Red Sox and Angels will meet for the rubber match of their three-game set Sunday at Fenway Park. It’ll be the final game between the two teams this season, with first pitch scheduled for 1:35 p.m. ET, following an hour of pregame coverage on NESN.