New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo was forced to leave his team’s loss to the Boston Red Sox early on Sunday due to an awkward collision while running the bases. In the seventh inning of a 9-3 loss, Rizzo hit a ground ball and sprinted towards first base. As he reached the bag, he collided with Red Sox reliever Brennan Bernardino and landed awkwardly on his right wrist, grabbing it in pain as he fell to the ground. Despite being safe at first base due to Bernardino dropping the toss, Rizzo was quickly pulled from the game and replaced by pinch-runner Oswaldo Cabrera.
Rizzo is scheduled for further testing on Monday to determine the severity of his injury and how long he might be sidelined. Yankees manager Aaron Boone stated that initial imaging was negative, but Rizzo is experiencing pain in multiple areas of his lower arm, necessitating additional tests to evaluate the extent of the injury. This incident was reminiscent of a collision Rizzo had last year with Fernando Tatis Jr. at first base, which resulted in Rizzo ending his season early due to post-concussion syndrome.
Despite Rizzo leaving the game with the Yankees down by just one run, Boston went on to secure a six-run victory at Fenway Park. Connor Wong’s two-run triple in the bottom of the seventh inning contributed significantly to their win, where Boston had an impressive nine stolen bases – most in a single game this season and most allowed by New York since 1915. The Yankees lost three out of their last four games and currently hold a 50-24 record, leading AL East with five games left before they face Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday for a three-game series.
