The Atlanta Braves are happy to leave Boston after splitting a quick two-game series with the Red Sox. They were encouraged in game one as the offense seemed to wake up behind a historic start from Max Fried.
However, Sean Murphy was hit in the elbow by a pitch late in that game and it ballooned immediately. Luckily, the swelling went down overnight and appeared to have avoided the worst-case scenario. Murphy had just returned a week ago from the IL.
Braves fans had another scare during Wednesday afternoon’s loss to the Red Sox. Outfielder Jarred Kelenic dove for a ball and made an impressive catch to end the inning. However, his wrist rolled up under him and immediately indicated he was hurt.
He was looked over on the field and walked off on his own after they examined his wrist area. It seemed the focus was more on his thumb area than the wrist. During the break between innings, Atlanta’s training staff taped up Kelenic and he got some hits in off a tee and it seemed he’d avoided catastrophe.
Kelenic took the field during the next inning but he was removed by Brian Snitker when his spot in the batting order came around. After the game, Snit stated his reasoning wasn’t due to concern with Jarred swinging the bat but rather Rafael Devers hitting another home run which extended Boston’s already large lead.
It was also revealed that X-rays returned negative for Kelenic’s wrist. In his post-game comments, he stated he was “lucky” to avoid serious injury and passed strength tests. He expected to and could have batted but Snit wanted to give J.P. Martinez a chance to hit.
