BOSTON – Boston Red Sox left-hander James Paxton limped off the field after injuring his right lower leg while making a quick move to cover first base on a grounder in Sunday’s opening inning against Houston.
Two innings later, the Red Sox announced that it was a strained right calf.
“I felt like I’d been kicked in the calf. Then I turned around, took another step and felt it again,” Paxton said after the Astros beat the Red Sox 10-2 to win three games. “I thought, ‘This is not good. It’s my calf.’ I felt it pop.”
Paxton, 35, quickly turned and left the mound when Yordan Alvarez hit a grounder to first baseman Dominic Smith. He looked back to the mound briefly, then sank to one knee and struggled to put weight on the leg as he got back up.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora and a trainer came out before Paxton limped to the dugout with the trainer’s help and slowly walked down the steps to the clubhouse. Paxton was replaced by right-hander Lucas Sims after managing just two outs.
“I’ve never had a calf injury before, this is the first time,” Paxton said. “It hurts. I felt really good. I was looking forward to helping this team get where they want to go. Hopefully I can make a comeback here at some point before the end.”
Cora said he would undergo further tests on Monday.
“He’s going to get an MRI (on Monday),” he said. “We’ll see where we stand. Difficult. He’s been healthy all season.”
Alvarez was safe on this play because Smith didn’t get to the bag before him.
Paxton made his third start since Boston acquired him in a trade from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
