Red Soxs Willson Contreras in injury scare with Yankees wild-card showdown looming

The Red Sox had a scare on Thursday night when Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch on his right hand in the eighth inning of Boston’s 4-3 win over the Rangers.Contreras was struck on a first-pitch sinker from Jakob Junis in the eighth inning.He walked to first base showing clear signs of pain before a trainer came to examine him and he went to the dugout.

Just a couple of batters later, Trevor Story hit a go-ahead three-run home run to help the Sox avoid the sweep by Texas.Postgame, interim manager Chad Tracy said Contreras’s hand was bruised with a little swelling, but X-rays came back negative.Tracy said the team will “take it day to day” with Contreras.As the regular season winds down, the Red Sox will have to manage their injuries in their pursuit of a deep October run.

They open their weekend series against the red-hot Rays in Tampa on Friday night, possibly without their most consistent hitter.Contreras said he probably won’t play in the series opener.Contreras told the Boston Globe he originally felt like he had fractured his hand, an injury he’s experienced before.“Sore.

Painful.My hand was numb for like five minutes,” Contreras said.

“That was the reason I came out of the game.I have fractured, before, the same hand.

It felt like a fracture.Thankfully, it’s not a fracture on the top of the bone.”Contreras also expressed frustration over being frequently hit by pitches during his time in the big leagues.

This season, Contreras ranks third in the majors in hit-by-pitches.“If nobody does anything about it, I’m going to keep getting hit.That’s the way I see it.

That’s it,” he explained.“I mean, sore bones in the hands — might take two days, might take a week, might take ten days.I don’t know.

We’ll see how I feel after taking this plane to Tampa.”Should the Rays come out on top of the AL East, the Red Sox will likely face the Yankees in the AL Wild Card series, one in which they’ll need their best hitters at ...