BALTIMORE — Red Sox right-handed rookie Richard Fitts left Monday’s game against the Orioles during the sixth inning with right biceps tightness.
Fitts looked down at his arm after throwing his first pitch in the sixth inning, a 94.2 mph outside fastball to Coby Mayo. Manager Alex Cora and head athletic trainer Brandon Henry rushed to the mound and immediately replaced him with lefty Steven Matz.
Fitts sounded optimistic after Boston’s 4-3 win over the Orioles.
“Felt a couple things in my warmup pitches and just kind of pulling on the biceps a little bit,” Fitts said. “I kind of knew that my outing was coming to a close. So I just wanted to get through what I could and I threw the first pitch of that inning and felt way worse than it did in the warmups. … We’re gonna evaluate tomorrow, but I’m feeling pretty good about it.”
The 25-year-old, who received the win, is not scheduled to undergo an MRI. He had strength testing done after leaving the game and felt normal.
“It was really encouraging with all the tests that we did today,” he said.
“We’ll see how I feel tomorrow,” Fitts added. “It’s probably gonna be really sore, but hopefully the tests are just the same as they were tonight.”
He entered the game in the second inning, after opener Brennan Bernardino pitched a scoreless first inning. Fitts allowed three runs on two hits, one homer and three walks while striking out six in 4-plus innings. He also hit a batter.
He’s 2-4 with a 5.00 ERA in 11 outings (10 starts) this season. Earlier this season, he spent 40 games on the injured list with a right pectoral strain.
“A lot of emotion just hit me in the sense of this is the second time this year I’m having to come out for an injury,” Fitts said. “It didn’t feel nearly as bad as it did early in the year with the pec. So that’s where I kind of took a step back and like, ‘OK, maybe this is a little bit better.’ But I never want to put the team in that position, too, where guys are having to come in if they’re cold and having to throw them in an impossible situation.”
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