The New York Yankees took three of four from the Boston Red Sox in their weekend series in the Bronx, and lost in the shuffle of Sunday's 16-1 loss for the Red Sox was Willson Contreras leaving the game early.
In a game that will be remembered for a controversial call in the outfield, Contreras' hamstring quickly became a talking point. He has been nursing a leg injury and has even been called out for lack of hustle at times by the fans because of it.
Trailing 6-0 at the start of the bottom of the seventh inning, Andruw Monasterio replaced Contreras on defense. Contreras was 0-for-3 with a strikeout at that point.
"The hamstring was a little tight," Tracy said after the game, per MassLive's Christopher Smith. "Just felt like at that point of the game, I don't want to push it. So we got him out of there."
Red Sox fans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that they did not lose Contreras to a new injury or something serious. Obviously, they would like to see him at 100% for the postseason, but Tracy seems to be playing it safe with him.
Knowing where the game was at, he felt it was best to get Contreras off his feet. Regardless, the Red Sox will now have to go to the Bronx for a best-of-three wild card series unless they can pass the Yankees in the standings, assuming they do not drop to the third wild card spot.
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