The Boston Red Sox just keep dropping like flies.
Closer Koji Uehara left Tuesday’s game with an injury during the ninth inning after striking out Brandon Belt, the lone batter he faced. He was replaced by Tommy Layne, who recorded the final two outs of the ninth inning in Boston’s 4-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
Red Sox manager John Farrell told the media in his postgame press conference that Uehara strained his right pectoral (chest) muscle on the final pitch of his outing. He did not feel any pain building up to that pitch. He’ll undergo more tests tomorrow.
Uehara threw just seven pitches in his outing, all ranging between 79-88 mph. But immediately after the K, teammates, trainers and Farrell quickly ran out to the mound and surrounded Uehara, who left holding his right shoulder area.
It’s unclear how much time, if any, Uehara will miss, but Farrell did reference Junichi Tazawa (currently on the disabled list) as someone who could re-join the club soon and recently-acquired Brad Ziegler as pitchers who could take over the back end of the rotation should Uehara miss any action.
“As we’ve had to go to other guys to step up, we’ll look to do that,” Farrell said. “I can’t tell you at this point how much time Koji will miss, but Taz is soon to return to us to give us another quality arm and (is) a proven late inning guy. And with Brad (Ziegler) here — again, not knowing how long Koji will be down — we’ve got other opportunities for other options to go to to close out ball games.”
Tazawa has filled in as closer in spot situations during his career, but wasn’t able to hold the job last season when Uehara was injured in the second half.
Ziegler was in the midst of a fine season as the Arizona Diamondbacks’ closer before being traded to Boston, to the tune of a 2-3 record with a 2.82 ERA and 18 saves. He has 81 career saves and a 2.42 career ERA. In three appearances for Boston, he’s yet to allow a run.
The 41-year-old Uehara was filling in for All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel, who hit the DL just before the All-Star break after knee surgery due to a torn meniscus. Kimbrel is expected to miss three to six weeks.
It was not a save situation for the Red Sox, but Farrell felt it still was a good spot to get Uehara some work.
“We’ve seen Koji where he’s worked best with a clean inning,” Farrell said. “If we get a guy on, middle of the order, (we were) gonna go to him (anyway). He’s most efficient — most effective — with a clean inning. So, a four-run lead at home — that’s the reason to go to him in that spot.”
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
