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Manager Alex Cora was forced to pull Aroldis Chapman after just 11 pitches Sunday.
The Boston Red Sox pulled off a nail-biting 4-3 victory on Sunday to take the rubber match of their three-game series at Fenway Park against the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
The game featured some dramatic highlights for the Red Sox, including the first career triple for rookie sensation Roman Anthony, and the 13th home run of the season for Alex Bregman.
Bregman’s blast came right after Anthony’s three-bagger, to drive in two runs and give the Red Sox the one-run lead they would never relinquish.
Potentially Devastating Moment For Red Sox
But not everything came up roses for the Red Sox. A scary and potentially devastating moment for Boston came in the eighth inning, when Manager Alex Cora made a trip to the mound with a team trainer and ended up pulling ace high-leverage reliever Aroldis Chapman from the game after just 11 pitches.
The cause was reported by Cora after the game as a “tight back.” The team listed Chapman as “day to day,” and Cora said that he did not believe a trip to the injured list would be required for the 37-year-old native of Cuba, according to MassLive Red Sox reporter Chris Cotillo.
“Just a little spasm that I felt yesterday,” Chapman said through a translator, as quoted by reporter Marc Fortier of the NBC Boston affiliate TV station. “Just felt a little uncomfortable today, but nothing big. I just hope that in the next couple days I’ll be able to get back out there.”
Chapman in Midst of Career Season at Age 37
Chapman has put together one of the best seasons of his 16-year career to this point with 18 saves in 20 chances, 61 strikeouts in 41 1/3 innings and a 1.30 ERA, second in MLB among all relievers with at least 40 innings pitched ahead of Sunday’s game. (The San Francisco Giants Randy Rodriguez leads with a 0.82 ERA in 43 2/3 innings.) His walk percentage of 7.1 would be a career-best.
But Chapman was uncharacteristically erratic when he came on to start the eighth against Los Angeles, with Cora trusting him to hold the one-run lead. He walked the first two batters he faced in Miguel Rojas and Mookie Betts, with his deliveries topping out at 95.8 mph and averaging 94.7 mph.
According to Statcast, Chapman’s fastball has averaged 98.5 mph this season, with what Statcast calls his sinker averaging 99.8 mph. His fastest pitch this season came on May 7 against the Texas Rangers when his fastball reached 104 mph (103.8 to be exact).
Red Sox Now Winners of 3 Out of 4
When Chapman left the game, there was some speculation that he was not injured but ill, with one popular Red Sox X (formerly Twitter) account, Boston Strong, telling its 81,300 followers, that “according to multiple fans, Aroldis Chapman was vomiting in the bullpen before entering the game. Hopefully he’s just sick.”
That report was unconfirmed, and while the Red Sox had not issued any information on whether Chapman was feeling under the weather, his back spasms would appear to be the the issue that apparently will cause the fireballing, 6-foot-4, 218-pound fireballer to remain on the sidelines for what the Red Sox hope will not be more than a few games.
The Red Sox took two of three from the Dodgers and have won three of their last four games, after losing four of five directly following the All-Star break. They now head to Minnesota for three games against the Twins before a Thursday off day which will also be the 2025 trade deadline.
Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin
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