Their are a few players the Boston Red Sox absolutely cannot afford to lose. The list probably starts with David Ortiz and Mookie Betts, but at this point, starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez has certainly proven that he is an integral cog in the team’s success.

Which is why Red Sox Nation collectively watched with bated breath as the southpaw exited an outing in which he had been exceptional with an apparent injury. As Rodriguez began the fifth inning, with a no-hitter intact and having struck out seven of the 14 batters he’d faced, he threw only two pitches before manager John Farrell lifted him in the middle of an at-bat.


Farrell would later explain that the tightness Rodriguez felt in his hamstring that forced his departure had actually started to nag him in the fourth inning.

“I think we got this early,” he said. “He felt a little bit of hamstring tightness come on towards the last hitter of the fourth inning. We checked him in between innings. There was no reduction of strength or range of motion. But it was clear the first two pitches he threw to start the fifth, he was not right.” Farrell added that Rodriguez felt a bit more loose postgame.

Rodriguez was not sure whether the affliction would cause him to miss his start in Detroit this weekend. “I’ve got to wait for what the trainers say,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve got to work and see how I feel, if I feel good.” Farrell seemed a bit more optimistic he would be on the mound.

“There’s a chance at this point,” he said. “I think we got it early enough where it doesn’t seem to be a significant restriction.” He added that the team would have a better read on it today. Rodriguez has already missed time this season with a knee injury he suffered in spring training. In his last seven healthy starts, he has pitched to a 2.52 ERA.


The Red Sox carried the no-hitter into the seventh inning in Rodriguez’s absence, until Steve Pearce reached on an infield single.