Red Sox Closer Kenley Jansen Pushed Through Injury To Notch Save Vs. Rays

It's very seldom Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora takes a trip to the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning with closer Kenley Jansen on the mound.

But Cora did so Friday night to check on Jansen, who got himself into trouble trying to protect a one-run lead against the Tampa Bay Rays and was clearly not at 100% as he visibly grimaced after several pitches.

Cora knew there was a far chance Jansen would come out of the game, though.

"No," Cora told reporters with a laugh when asked if he could have envisioned Jansen allowing his manager to pull him one out from a save.

Sticking with Jansen paid off as the soon-to-be 37-year-old reliever struck out Logan Driscoll to strand the tying and winning runs at third and second base, respectively, in a 2-1 win for the Red Sox at Tropicana Field.

Jansen started the inning off smoothly by retiring the first two batters he faced. But with Jansen bothered by an ailment, he became wild and walked the next two batters, who moved into scoring position via stolen bases.

Cora revealed Jansen, who hadn't pitched in almost a week, is dealing with a shoulder issue, but still had enough to record save No. 447 of his career.

"He's been dealing with some shoulder stuff and it felt like he was kind of like favoring it, or whatever you want to call it," Cora said. "I checked with him and he's like, 'I'm good to go.' So, we'll know more tonight or tomorrow and we'll see where we're at."