David Ortiz Day-To-Day With Back Pain After Leaving Game In 9th Inning
BOSTON (CBS) -- How could a Red Sox season go from bad to worse in a hurry? An injury to the most productive hitter might do the trick.
That's a fear for the Red Sox after David Ortiz left in the middle of his at-bat in the ninth inning on Thursday afternoon.
The designated hitter showed obvious discomfort after taking a half-swing on a Rob Rasmussen pitch. Ortiz grabbed at his back, which drew a visit from the trainer, and with the game well out of reach at 8-0, Ortiz left the game.
After the loss, Ortiz said he first felt pain on Wednesday.
"In my last at-bat [Wednesday], I kind of felt like a little pop or something in my upper back," Ortiz said. "Felt a little discomfort. Today I was fine, but I guess I made like a rough move on that pitch, like either trying to go and stopping and kind of pulled me a little bit more today. I just got checked out by the doctors and they kind of gave me a quick therapy and put a patch on, so hopefully it's not anything serious. We'll see how it feels tomorrow."
"In that final check swing, he felt some spasm in the upper mid-back," manager John Farrell said, specifying that the pain was in the upper middle part of his back and not on the side. "We just were still examining him right now, so right now he's day to day."
Ortiz, 38, has played in 99 of the Red Sox' 102 games this season. He went 0-for-3 with a strikeout on Thursday, a day when the Red Sox were limited to just one hit. On the seasons, Ortiz is batting .251 with an .847 OPS, 24 home runs and 74 RBIs.
After losing three of four to Toronto, the 47-55 Red Sox head to Tampa Bay for a three-game weekend series.
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