Right-hander Garrett Whitlock is day-to-day with left knee soreness after slipping on the mound during Sunday\u2019s rain-soaked series finale against the visiting Minnesota Twins.<\/p>\n
Boston Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy revealed the ailment pregame Wednesday, when a reporter asked why fellow righty Justin Slaten had warmed up in the bullpen before the eighth rather than Whitlock, who\u2019s established himself as one of the premier set-up men in baseball.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a little something going on with Whit,\u201d Tracy said. \u201cSome soreness in the knee, so we got to just keep an eye on that and see where we\u2019re at. \u2026 It was a brutal day, brutal conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whitlock clarified that he hurt his knee on \u201cthe very first warm-up pitch\u201d when he took the mound for the sixth inning on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously the conditions were super wet, kind of slipped and hyperextended my knee and everything,\u201d the veteran righty echoed. \u201cI was like, \u2018Man, that didn\u2019t feel good.\u2019 \u2026 And it was kind of in my head, and then I saw the clock going, I was like, \u2018Oh wait, they didn\u2019t stop it, I need to keep throwing.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so yeah, I probably should have taken some time to be like, \u2018Alright, slow things down,\u2019 but that\u2019s part of it. You\u2019re just trying to compete and everything, and I\u2019m never going to make excuses. I still gave up runs and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
The slip set the stage for Whitlock\u2019s first blown save of the season. He recorded just one out (via strikeout), and allowed an earned run on two hits. The performance, in his 20th appearance of the year, pushed his ERA from 2.79 to 3.20. The Twins won 6-5, completing their first sweep of the Sox at Fenway Park since 1994.<\/p>\n
Imaging was negative for structural damage, so the Red Sox are trying to avoid putting Whitlock on the injured list, though Tracy admitted it puts them in a tight spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously that\u2019s a challenge with the middle relief being where it\u2019s at, but as of now yeah, we just got to keep assessing and see where it\u2019s at,\u201d Tracy said. \u201cSometimes there\u2019s nothing structurally wrong but if you slip and kind of jam you still have some soreness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whitlock threw in the outfield during afternoon workouts, but said the soreness has only slightly abated since Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d say it\u2019s probably the same right now,\u201d he said, but then amended his answer. \u201cI\u2019d say today it was a little bit better than the last two days. That\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if he was available to pitch that night, Whitlock said, \u201cI\u2019m going to let them come up with that, obviously, I\u2019m gonna give it everything I can. But yeah, it\u2019s still pretty sore.\u201d<\/p>\n
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