Red Sox pitcher James Paxton was placed on the 15-day injured list with right knee inflammation and will not again this season. Colin E. Braley/Associated Press
BOSTON — Boston Red Sox left-hander James Paxton was placed on the 15-day injured list with right knee inflammation, a move Manager Alex Cora says will end his season.
“It’s been barking at him,” Cora said Sunday at Fenway Park while the Red Sox were preparing for their series finale against the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles. “We looked at pushing him back. I don’t think it makes sense to push him. He’s been through so much in his career.”
Originally, the team pushed back the start of the 34-year-old Paxton to Tuesday against the New York Yankees, but decided it was best to shut him down. Cora said Nick Pivetta will take Paxton’s turn in the rotation the rest of the season.
Paxton tore the ulnar collateral ligament in a start with the Seattle Mariners in April 2021 and underwent surgery a week later. Paxton had a $6 million deal for the 2022 season while he was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He didn’t pitch that year because of a few setbacks during the recovery process.
“It was good,” said Cora, of his season. “The medical staff did an outstanding job the past two years to get him to the point that he was one of the best pitchers in the big leagues.”
He picked up a $4 million option to return this season and went 7-5 with a 4.50 ERA in 19 starts. He was one of the game’s top pitchers in June, earning the AL Pitcher of the Month after going 3-0 with a 1.74 ERA in five starts.
The Red Sox enter Sunday seven games back for the AL’s third and final wild-card spot.
YANKEES: Rookie Jasson Domínguez has a torn ligament in his throwing elbow and needs Tommy John surgery, interrupting an impressive start to his major league career that included four home runs in his first seven games.
The prized 20-year-old center fielder was scheduled to bat third for New York in Sunday’s series finale against Milwaukee but was scratched about 15 minutes before the first pitch. Afterward, Manager Aaron Boone said Domínguez went for a scan during the game, which revealed a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
The switch-hitter launched a two-run homer Friday, becoming the youngest player since at least 1901 to homer four times in his first seven games.
Since making his debut on Sept. 1 in Houston, Domínguez was hitting .258 with four homers and seven RBI in eight games. He reached base in each of his first seven games before going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in Saturday’s 9-2 loss to the Brewers.
SUNDAY’S GAMES
RAYS 6, MARINERS 3: Zach Eflin tied for the American League lead with his 14th win, and Tampa Bay beat Seattle in St. Petersburg, Florida to take three of four in a series between playoff contenders.
Tampa Bay opened an 8 1/2-game lead over Seattle for the top AL wild card. The Mariners entered tied with Toronto. The Rays started play four games behind Baltimore in the AL East, while Seattle trailed AL West-leading Houston by 1 1/2 games.
Eflin (14-8) lasted five innings for the second consecutive start, allowing three runs and seven hits. At one point in the fourth and fifth, six of nine batters had hits off the right-hander.
ASTROS 12, PADRES 2: Kyle Tucker hit a pair of RBI triples in eight-run sixth inning, Jose Altuve homered and drove in three runs, and AL West-leading Houston routed visiting San Diego.
Houston has won five of six and opened a 2 1/2-game AL West lead over Seattle, which lost to Tampa Bay 6-3. The defending champion Astros are a season-high 20 games over .500 at 82-62.
BRAVES 5, PIRATES 2: Atlanta became the first team to clinch a playoff berth, rallying to beat visiting Pittsburgh as Matt Olson went 2 for 3 with three RBI.
Atlanta (93-49) reached the postseason for the sixth straight year, the second-longest streak in franchise history. The Braves won 11 straight NL East titles from 1995-2005.
Ronald Acuña Jr. had a key two-out single to spark the seventh-inning rally and had two RBI.
DODGERS 7, NATIONALS 3: James Outman homered, and NL West-leading Los Angeles moved closer to a division title with a win in Washington.
Jason Heyward drove in two for Los Angeles, which leads Arizona by 13 games in the NL West. The Dodgers, who hold the tiebreaker over the Diamondbacks, reduced their magic number to clinch the division to six.
REDS 7, CARDINALS 1: Hunter Greene allowed one hit six innings in his first start in 11 days, Joey Votto homered on his 40th birthday and Cincinnati stopped a three-game losing streak with a win at home.
MARLINS 5, PHILLIES 4: Bryan De La Cruz hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning and Miami, held hitless until the seventh, rallied for a victory in Philadelphia.
Dane Myers broke up a no-hit bid by Phillies starter Ranger Suárez with a one-out double in the seventh. Yuli Gurriel drove in two runs for the Marlins, who entered 1 1/2 games behind Arizona for the final National League wild card. Miami has won eight of 10 after taking two of three games from Philadelphia.
CUBS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 2: Christopher Morel, Cody Bellinger and Dansby Swanson each hit solo shots in the third inning, and Chicago snapped a three-game losing streak with a win at Wrigley Field.
Swanson added two singles and Kyle Hendricks tossed 5 2/3 effective innings to help Chicago (77-67) strengthen its hold on the second NL wild card spot. Arizona’s four-game winning streak ended, but the Diamondbacks (75-69) remained in the third wild-card spot. Arizona held the Cubs to just four runs in winning the first three games of the series.
METS 2, TWINS 0: DJ Stewart hit a two-run double in the ninth inning and New York overcame a career-high 14 strikeouts by Minnesota starter Pablo López to beat the Twins in Minneapolis and avoid a three-game sweep.
RANGERS 9, ATHLETICS 4: Marcus Semien homered twice among his four hits, Corey Seager went deep for the 30th time this season and Texas won consecutive games for the first time in September, beating last-place Oakland in Arlington, Texas.
YANKEES 4, BREWERS 3: Milwaukee rookie Sal Frelick preserved a no-hit bid with a leaping catch in the 10th inning that kept the game scoreless, New York rallied to beat Brewers when Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 12th and Kyle Higashioka hit a winning double in the 13th.
BLUE JAYS 5, ROYALS 2: Kevin Kiermaier hit a tiebreaking solo home run in the seventh inning and Toronto took advantage of three consecutive wild pitches by Cole Ragans to beat the Royals, completing a three-game sweep in Toronto.
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