Red Sox place slugger Willson Contreras on IL with strained left hamstring; recall Mickey Gasper

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox placed Willson Contreras on the 10-day injured list Monday because of a strained left hamstring that’s been hampering the slugger for over a month.

“He came out the other day, I don’t want to paint the picture that something way worse happened,” interim Boston manager Chad Tracy said before the start of a three-game series against Seattle.

“Just a recurring of the same thing,” Tracy said. “Just to the point where, you know, if we’ve got to give him another few days to let it calm down, it’s tough to be short bodies.”

The team decided shutting down Contreras would benefit both him and flexibility on the roster.

“How do we do this to get him completely over the hump, let him have the rest he needs so he’s with us for the final push? We got together as a group and felt like this was the best course of action,” Tracy said.

The 34-year-old Contreras is batting .274 and leads the team in homers (career-high 26) and RBIs (79) in his first season after being acquired in an offseason trade from St. Louis.

Boston recalled switch-hitter Mickey Gasper from Triple-A to take Contreras' spot. The 30-year-old Gasper has five homers and 19 RBIs with the Red Sox this season.

Contreras’ hamstring trouble led to him jog lightly on a grounder in a loss to the Athletics on Aug. 8, prompting loud boos from the Fenway Park fans.

A few days later, he told the media that the team knew he had some leg issues.

“If you know me by now, you know I play 100 percent day in and day out,” he said. “They have to have a reason for me not to run the bases and I had it. My coaching staff knew that.”

Also Monday, Tracy said right-hander Sonny Gray, who leads Boston in wins with a 16-4 record and 2.82 ERA, will have his start pushed from Tuesday to Saturday to give him some rest.

“Rest his body and make sure that he’s full-go down the stretch as well,” Tracy said.

Boston entered Monday holding a comfortable lead for the second of three AL wild-card spots with 25 regular-season games left.

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