Boston Red Sox starter leaves game with knee injury, undergoing MRI

BOSTON — Starting pitcher Hunter Dobbins left the Red Sox’ game against the Rays on Friday during the second inning with a right knee injury.

Dobbins hurt himself covering first base after Rays speedster Chandler Simpson grounded out to first baseman Abraham Toro for the second out of the inning. Toro threw to Dobbins, whose foot appeared to hit the bag the wrong way as he recorded the out.

Trainer Brandon Henry and manager Alex Cora came out to check on the 25-year-old righty as he limped back to the mound. Dobbins threw one warmup pitch before deciding he was too hurt to continue.

Dobbins was not still at Fenway Park after the Red Sox beat the Rays, 5-4, on a Ceddanne Rafaela walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth. He was undergoing an MRI, according to a baseball source, and the expectation is that the Red Sox will know more about the severity of his injury Saturday.

“Not much yet,” said manager Alex Cora. “He said he felt it when he jumped for the throw and when he landed, so we’ll see.

The Red Sox had just reinstated Dobbins from the IL before the game after he had missed 18 games with a right elbow strain. Dobbins had logged a 4.10 ERA in 59 ⅓ innings over 12 games (10 starts) since making his major league debut on April 6.

Hard-throwing righty reliever Jorge Alcala replaced Dobbins. Dobbins allowed one run, two hits and one walk while striking out two in 1 ⅔ innings. Junior Caminero’s RBI single in the first inning put Tampa Bay ahead 1-0.

The Red Sox sent fellow rookie Richard Fitts down to Triple-A to clear room for Dobbins’ return earlier this week. They might call up a fresh arm (potentially Isaiah Campbell) to help the bullpen Saturday afternoon. If Dobbins does miss time, the returning Tanner Houck — as well as Fitts and Kyle Harrison, who are at Triple-A — are rotation options.

“We’ll see where we’re at with Dobbins and we’ll decide,” Cora said.