BOSTON -- After exiting Wednesday night's 7-3 win over the Rays with tightness in his left quad, shortstop Xander Bogaerts returned to the Red Sox's lineup for Thursday afternoon's series finale.
"Bogey went through some treatment once he came out of last night, and removing him from the game last night was more precautionary than anything," said manager John Farrell. "He did feel some tightness, but he responded very favorably to the treatment last night. Felt pretty good when he left here last night. Felt better when he came in. Has gone through treatment and a number of tests that got him up to 100 percent as far as exertion and running. He's cleared and good to go."
Bogaerts appeared to grimace after he rounded second, and he was tended to by the training staff in the dugout.
Maybe Bogaerts should blame teammate David Ortiz. Twice, Big Papi drove Bogaerts all the way home from first with two doubles.
"I probably felt it my first at-bat when I got that base hit and Papi hit the double that I scored on," Bogaerts said. "That's when I started feeling it, and with the cold weather, it just didn't get better. The second time I scored from first, I just felt like a little tightness right there, a little grab."
A native of Aruba, Bogaerts has never made any secret that he's not a big fan of cold-weather baseball. But Bogaerts always goes full throttle on the bases.
"One thing I know is I just try to go hard, especially that situation if I can score from first," Bogaerts said. "I mean, with the cold night tonight, I never felt loose rounding the bases. Once it's a bit warmer, your body can adapt to that."
When the Red Sox went out for defense in the sixth, Brock Holt moved from left field to shortstop. Chris Young replaced Bogaerts in the No. 3 spot in the batting order and played left field.