CLEVELAND -- The sight of Xander Bogaerts grimacing after taking an awkward swing at a foul ball in the seventh inning of Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Indians was the last thing the Red Sox wanted to see.
But it turns out Bogaerts should be fine, and might even play on Monday night against the Orioles.
That said, Red Sox manager Alex Cora wasn't taking any chances and removed Bogaerts from the game as soon as he saw the shortstop flexing his left shoulder.
The diagnosis was left shoulder soreness.
"He's OK. He took two swings there, and kind of like, moved his shoulder," said Cora. "I'm not going to take any chances, and everything tested fine. He didn't need any treatment, so we'll see tomorrow how he feels and go from there.
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Bogaerts had no concern about the ailment by the time the game ended.
"I felt a pinch. I think it was just, I took some weird swings," said Bogaerts. "A little awkward swing. That was it. It's nothing now. It was just during the at-bats. Probably the cold weather wasn't helpful with that, the issue, but I feel good. I'm ready for tomorrow."
It was a good sign that Bogaerts had no interest in coming out of the game and was a little irked in the heat of the moment that Cora pulled him.
"I was [mad], but Cora, I respect him so much," said Bogaerts. "In that situation, it's hard for me as a player to understand, but once I got out of the game, I kind of understand, you know? In the heat of the moment, it was really hard for me to go by his word and come out of the game, but I mean, I have so much respect for him, and he said it. I tried to convince him, and he said 'no' in a way that I could not come back with an answer. I had to let it go."
Tzu-Wei Lin replaced Bogaerts in the middle of the at-bat and completed a strikeout that was charged to Bogaerts.
Cora has been understandably conservative with all of his key players heading down the stretch as the Red Sox have already clinched the American League East and are a win (or an Astros loss) away from securing home-field throughout the playoffs.