Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will start for Boston on Thursday because the Wright jammed his right shoulder while diving into a base as pinch runner in an interleague game against the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend.
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Ortiz is OK: Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz wasn’t going to sit out a late-season game against the rival New York Yankees.
“He just hit it in a spot where we couldn’t do anything about the guy at third”, Ziegler said. “Not how I pictured it when I woke up this morning”.
The 40-year-old designated hitter, who has announced he will retire after this season, fouled a 98.5 miles per hour fastball from Dellin Betances off the shin in the ninth inning and was replaced by pinch-hitter Bryce Brentz, who struck out.
“They’re exactly what they’ve meant for a long time”, Rodriguez said about the boos. “They’re passionate fans. They love their team”.
The shake-up didn’t have the effect the Red Sox were seeking, though, as they fell to the Yankees, 9-4.
The plan was logical: Rodriguez did his job, Ziegler has been strong and Craig Kimbrel was available after a down day Wednesday.
Half of the Yankees’ six hits came in that inning, but the key play was a Jacoby Ellsbury fly ball that Red Sox rookie Andrew Benintendi misplayed in left. Benintendi was positioned right in front of the ball, but he lost it in the lights and it saild past his glove to the wall, allowing two runs to score.
“There’s a way that you’d like to see him go out where the fans can show him the appreciation”, Girardi said. When the Rangers chose to trade him, a proposed deal to Boston fell through before the trade to NY.
Michael Pineda pitched well, but Hanley Ramirez had two run-scoring hits, including a tie-breaking double in the fifth.
Despite a trade-deadline selloff, the Yankees (58-56) are now just 6 1/2 games behind the American League East-leading Toronto Blue Jays and 3 1/2 games out in the AL wild-card race. “Until we have that second opinion, we’re not going to release anything”, manager Joe Girardi said. “So we’ll have to evaluate what’s going on”.
Tampa Bay has won five of nine meetings with the Yankees, including a three-game sweep at home two weeks ago which.
Rodriguez started at third twice last season, but he has not played in the field at all in 2016.
Since sweeping the Yankees, the Rays have dropped six of 10, including a 7-0 loss at Toronto on Wednesday.
Sandy Leon’s leadoff double and Benintendi’s walk put runners on the corners for Dustin Pedroia with one out in the Boston ninth.
Ramirez was shaken up after colliding with Gary Sanchez at first base during Sanchez’s eighth-inning single.
While he was backing up to make the play, Ramirez was bowled over by Sanchez at the bag. After a few minutes, Ramirez was able to walk it off and stayed in the game to finish the top of the eighth inning.
One thing Rodriguez will not be doing Friday is playing third base. Brock Holt started in right.
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Yankees: RHP Nathan Eovaldi had an MRI on his pitching elbow and was evaluated by team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad. Yankees RHP Luis Cessa was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and RHP Ben Heller had his contract selected from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
