Boston Red Sox fans watching Saturday's win over the New York Yankees experienced a wild swing of emotion in the bottom of the ninth inning. First, excitement as Aroldis Chapman ran over to first base to record the final out. Then, concern as Chapman tripped over the bag and came up limping.
Chapman is 37 years old. Falls at that age take a little more out of you. You don't spring back up quick as quickly as you used to. As a 30-something, I can attest to that. Still, his reaction after the fall — immediately reaching for his thigh — and the limp he sported afterwards will have many in Boston holding their breath.
Aroldis Chapman injury update: Status of Red Sox closer unknown
The best-case scenario here is it was just a rough tumble. He'll walk it off and be fine. The worst-case scenario is some sort of muscle strain.
As of 11 p.m. ET, it wasn't clear which way the pendulum might swing. For now, there haven't been any indications of concern coming from the Red Sox camp.
We do know which way it went for the Red Sox in the win-loss column. Garrett Crochet gave up five earned in six innings, but Boston won 10-7 with the help of some ninth-inning insurance runs from Trevor Story, who accounted for five RBIs in total. After the Yankees closed the gap to 8-7, his two-run RBI single set up Chapman to close things out in relative comfort.
Chapman delivered a 1-2-3 inning, striking out Jazz Chisholm Jr and inducing ground outs from Oswaldo Peraza and Paul Goldschmidt. It was his 10th save of the season
His final pitch hit 102 mph. Not bad for guy who looked worse for wear getting up after tripping over the bag.
This article will be updated with more information from the Red Sox.