Xander Bogaerts was removed in the ninth inning of the Red Sox’ 6-5 win over the Angels on Tuesday night due to what the team described as left shoulder tightness.
As Red Sox Stats pointed out on Twitter, Bogaerts appeared to reach for his left shoulder after he whiffed on a 94 mph slider and struck out against Angels reliever Ryan Tepera in the seventh inning.
Bogaerts was able to remain in the game defensively, but he was pinch-hit for by Franchy Cordero when his spot in the lineup came up again in the ninth. He was then replaced at shortstop a half-inning later by Enrique Hernandez, who slid over from center field and wound up making a great play to end the game in the 10th.
When speaking with reporters following his team’s sixth consecutive victory, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said that Bogaerts is doing well and revealed that this issue with Bogaerts’ left shoulder actually stems from when he collided with Alex Verdugo at Fenway Park last month.
“He’s doing OK,” said Cora. “He ran into Dugie in Boston. It’s been kind of on-and-off bothering him. So, we’ll see tomorrow. He’s begging to play. We’ll see how it goes.”
Prior to leaving Tuesday’s contest, Bogaerts had gone 1-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. The 29-year-old is now batting .320/.388/.481 on the season with six home runs and 26 RBIs over 55 games and 232 trips to the plate.
(Picture of Xander Bogaerts: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
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