The Red Sox will be without star third baseman Rafael Devers at the most pivotal part of their season. Prior to the team’s 4-1 loss to the Blue Jays Saturday afternoon, the Sox placed Devers on the 10-day injured list with what the team said was right hamstring inflammation.
The Sox are optimistic the injury will require only the mandatory 10 days.
Outfielder Jaylin Davis was recalled from Triple A Worcester, filling Devers’s spot on the roster.
Devers felt tightness on a swing during his last at-bat, in the fifth inning, on Friday. But manager Alex Cora noticed Devers was hobbled when he legged out a double in the first inning.
Devers has dealt with lingering back issues, and Cora didn’t rule out that Devers’s hamstring injury might be connected to that.
“Maybe,” Cora said before the game. “We talked to him in New York [last week], about the All-Star Game. He felt good in Los Angeles at the All-Star Game. It’s probably related, but [the hamstring injury] happened yesterday.”
The Sox have dealt with a number of injuries to pitchers. Now, the injury bug has hit the position players. Second basemen Trevor Story is still out with a hand bruise. designated hitter J.D. Martinez missed a second game Saturday as he deals with back spasms. A total of 13 players are on the injured list.
The Red Sox are 48-47 and fourth in the AL East standings.
“It’s not easy, obviously,” Cora said. “But at the end of the day nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. You’ve just got to keep going, keep trying, keep playing.”
Keeping a level head
The Red Sox haven’t shown that they are a true contender this year, and with the trade deadline approaching and the injuries continuing to pile up, the Sox could be in sell mode.
Cora has urged his players to stay balanced.
“You’ve got to control today,” he said. “That’s it. You’ve got to perform and you’ve got to perform with whoever you have here. And we haven’t done a good job the last 2½ weeks. We have to get better, like I’ve been saying all along. It’s a good team that has to keep fighting.”
Duran back in there
Center fielder Jarren Duran was back in the lineup Saturday, at leadoff for the fourth straight game despite Friday night’s meltdown during a 28-5 drubbing. Duran lost a ball in the twilight at Fenway Park, resulting in a Raimel Tapia inside-the-park grand slam in the third inning that highlighted a seven-run outburst and gave the Blue Jays a 10-0 lead.
What made it worse was that Duran did not run after the ball once he saw it land on the warning track, forcing Alex Verdugo, who was playing left field, to sprint over to center, retrieve it, and throw it in.
After the game when asked why he didn’t run after the ball, Duran had this to say: “Verdugo was already beating me to the ball. I just didn’t want to get in his way. What if I collide with him or something like that?”
Entering the day, Duran was minus-7 in defensive runs saved in just 196 innings. Only Reds utilityman Nick Senzel and Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds were worse. Both had played 500-plus innings.
When Duran’s name was introduced prior to the game Saturday, fans booed. When he struck out in his first at-bat against Jays righthander Alek Manoah, the boos grew louder. Duran finished 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. He is 3 for 39 with 19 strikeouts in his last 11 games.
“He’s under the ball,” Cora said after the game. “Early on, he was hitting line drives up the middle. Everything was line drives. It’s just a mechanical issue he has going right now. And he’s under everything.”
Progress reports
The Red Sox hope to get Martinez back either for Sunday’s series finale with the Jays or Monday’s series opener against the Guardians. “He doesn’t feel great,” Cora said . . . Rich Hill (left knee sprain) bounced back well following his three-inning simulated game Friday. Hill will have a bullpen session Sunday. The team will then make a decision on Hill’s progression . . . Story is still limited to taking grounders and throwing. He tracked pitches in the batter’s box Friday, but as of Saturday Story still hadn’t swung a bat . . . The Red Sox hope Josh Winckowski will start sometime this week. The Sox placed the righthander on the COVID-related IL after his July 13 start against the Rays . . . Kiké Hernández (right hip flexor strain) was transferred to the 60-day IL. The earliest he could return would be Aug. 7. Hernández, who received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his hip prior to the All-Star break, is working out in the weight room but still isn’t doing any baseball-related activity.
Julian McWilliams can be reached at julian.mcwilliams@globe.com. Follow him @byJulianMack.