Red Sox catcher leaves game; ‘Next thing I know I’m laying on the ground’

BOSTON — Red Sox catcher Connor Wong thought he was about to make a routine catch on Edmundo Sosa’s pop-up in foul territory with two outs in the eighth inning.

“Went up for a pop-up and next thing I know I’m laying on the ground,” Wong said.

Wong left the Red Sox’ 3-1 victory over the Phillies after hurting his right ankle on the play. Initial imaging was negative.

Wong tripped over Sosa’s leg while attempting the catch and fell to the ground.

“It’s a little sore,” Wong said. “I’ve done this one before. Much worse. So everything we did seemed like it was going to be fine. So kind of see how it is in the morning and go from there.”

Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock was backing off to let Wong catch it, then had to charge in for the final out of the eighth. He made a sliding catch in foul territory on the first base side

“Kind of just was backing up, trying to get a better angle on it,” Wong said. “Must have stepped on him and kind of rolled up. It was kind of, ‘Dang, that really hurt.’ And then realized that the ball was still in the air, and then heard the crowd and saw Whitlock out of the corner of my eye and glad he made the catch.”

Wong did not return for the bottom of the ninth inning. Carlos Narváez replaced him defensively.

“I think he’s gonna be OK,” interim manager Chad Tracy said. “I think banged on the outside bone part of the ankle. They did some quick images. Everything’s negative. He was able to kind of jump on it. Just felt a little discomfort pushing off of it.”

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