Why Kenley Jansen Won’t Travel For Red Sox-Rockies Series

Kenley Jansen had a blown save on Saturday and returned to the mound for the Boston Red Sox on Sunday night.

The latter scenario seemed odd given the Red Sox closer pitched the day before and the Los Angeles Dodgers led 6-2 when he entered in the eighth inning. Jansen surrendered three runs in the eventual loss for Boston.

So, why was Jansen in the non-save situation and pitching for the second straight day?

The Boston reliever took the mound since he will not be making the upcoming trip to Colorado as the Red Sox play a three-game series against the Rockies due to his heart condition, Alex Cora told reporters in Los Angeles per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo and The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams.

The altitude in Colorado had an obvious role in that decision for Jansen to miss the series and Boston will play with just 25 players.

When speaking with reporters Sunday night, Jansen revealed he had to “shock his heart back into rhythm” after three previous trips to Colorado, as reported by WEEI’s Rob Bradford and The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

The Red Sox begin the three-game set against the Rockies on Monday night. First pitch is set for 8:40 p.m. ET. You can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.