BOSTON (AP) — Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers has been scratched from the All-Star Game with left shoulder soreness and replaced on the AL roster with Baltimore’s Jordan Westburg.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Tuesday that Devers has been dealing with an injury in his AC joint for a while. Although the 27-year-old Dominican was in the lineup for Tuesday night’s game against Oakland, Cora said “he’s been grinding through a few things.”
“As a group, we believe it’s a good time for him to get some rest and take care of it,” Cora said.
Cora said the team notified Major League Baseball. Westburg took Devers’ spot for next Tuesday’s game in Arlington, Texas, because he finished second in player, manager and coach voting behind Cleveland’s José Ramírez, the AL starter.
Westburg is batting .281 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs this season.
Devers is batting .293 with 21 homers and 55 RBIs this season, earning his third All-Star Game selection. He homered twice in Sunday night’s victory over New York in Yankee Stadium.
The Red Sox took two of three from the Yankees and have won 14 of their past 19 to improve to nine games over .500, matching a season high. Boston is 7½ games behind Baltimore in the AL East and in possession of the third AL wild-card spot entering Tuesday.
“We all believe there’s more here, we’re shooting for something bigger than the All-Star Game,” Cora said. “For him to be healthy, that’s the most important thing.”
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