Red Sox stars left bloodied, shaken up after nasty outfield collision

Patriots Day is always a special time for Boston, and that extends to the Boston Red Sox, who traditionally take the field for an 11 a.m. ET start of their game on that Monday. Such was the case as they took on the Cleveland Guardians, but a pitchers duel that held a shutout until the late innings suddenly turned scary when a pair of Red Sox stars were left lying hurt on the outfield grass.

In the top of the seventh inning right after the Guardians took a 2-0 lead at Fenway Park, Estevan Florial hit a blooper into shallow left field. Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers, left fielder Tyler O'Neill, and centerfielder Cedanne Rafaela all charged to the ball. But while Devers appeared to call everyone off, Rafaela backed off but O'Neill did not.

The Red Sox newcomer via trade this past offseason then collided with Devers as they clashed heads, sending both players flying along with their hats and O'Neill's sunglasses (which also appeared to break) and leaving them in a heap on the outfield grass in a horrible scene.

Red Sox stars Rafael Devers, Tyler O'Neill collide in scary scene at Fenway

O'Neill and Devers were both clearly shaken up with the latter laying relatively motionless in the grass as manager Alex Cora and trainers rushed onto the field. He eventually sat up, as did O'Neill, but the outfielder's rising revealed a nasty cut on his head that left him bloodied, which they tried to stop as he got up and exited the field, which they both did.

Devers ultimately said he was fine and remained in the game. O'Neill, on the other hand, was forced to exit the game and received eight stitches for the gash and was undergoing testing in concussion protocol.

All told, it was a scary scene but it seems as if the Red Sox avoided worst-case scenario. Still, it's another stroke of rotten luck for this Boston team that has already lost Trevor Story, Lucas Giolito, Nick Pivetta, Vaughn Grissom and more to injury this year. Now it seems like the MLB home run leader, O'Neill, might miss time as well as his stitches heal and if he remains in concussion protocol.

Not quite the Patriots Day that Red Sox fans were hoping for, especially considering all of this after the collision came while the club eventually lost 6-0 to Cleveland.