Boston Red Sox veteran starter Sonny Gray was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right hamstring strain on Tuesday, a day after he left a start against the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park.
Gray started Boston's annual Patriots' Day game and had just walked Gleyber Torres when he started bending down, stretching and bending his right leg in the third inning. Pitching coach Andrew Bailey and catcher Carlos Narvaez came out to visit the mound.
Shortly after, manager Alex Cora and a trainer came out. Gray took a few warmup throws and, after a brief conversation, he walked off the field.
To fill his roster spot, Boston, which opens a series against the New York Yankees on Tuesday night, recalled left-handed pitcher Tyler Samaniego from Triple-A Worcester.
Gray, 36, is in his first season with the club, and was part of an offseason overhaul of Boston's pitching staff. The right-hander, acquired in a trade from St. Louis in November, is 2-1 with a 4.30 ERA in five starts this season, as the 9-13 Red Sox have struggled in the early going.
"I threw that last 3-2 pitch and I felt just like a grab to my right hamstring, something I've felt before," Gray said Monday. "I kind of knew what it was. I knew that I needed to at least throw a warmup pitch before I would feel comfortable continuing. ... I threw a warmup pitch, same feeling, not a grab, more of like a tightness after that."
Samaniego, a 27-year-old left-hander, made his major league debut on April 8 against the Milwaukee Brewers, and has thrown 3 2/3 hitless, scoreless innings with three walks and four strikeouts over three games for Boston.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
