BOSTON -- A fastball struck first baseman Steve Pearce just below the left shin, leaving the right-handed hitter in enormous pain in the bottom of the first inning on Thursday night at Fenway Park.
Pearce initially stayed in the game, drawing a nice hand from the crowd, but was replaced on defense by Blake Swihart in the top of the third.
A diagnosis is not yet available, but the hope is that it's just a bruise. The pitch from Blue Jays lefty J.