BOSTON -- Things continue to get worse for the Boston Red Sox.
Not only are the Red Sox in the midst of an eight-game losing skid, the club placed shortstop Xander Bogaerts on the seven-day disabled list Sunday (retroactive to Saturday) with a mild concussion and had to pull David Ortiz from Sunday's 8-6 loss to the Seattle Mariners with a right foot contusion.
Ortiz had a scan taken on his foot and results were negative.
"There's no fractures of any kind, based on that test and we'll check him once we get to the ballpark [in Toronto] tomorrow, and obviously throughout the night tonight," Red Sox manager John Farrell said.
Bogaerts was hit in the head by a pitch Friday night and has been out of the lineup the last two games. He was tested again on Sunday and is still having concussion-like symptoms.
"Until [symptoms] subside or clear up, we've got to go through the protocol to get him cleared, so he'll be inactive for those seven days," Farrell said.
As a result, the Red Sox have selected infielder Carlos Rivero's contract from Triple-A Pawtucket; he will join the Red Sox in Toronto. After Sunday's game, Bogaerts said he was feeling better, but that he'll remain sidelined until he's 100 percent healthy.
"It's been getting better. I feel good. I think it's just something to be safe. Just making sure that I'm fully healthy when I come back," he said.
While the team travels to Toronto for a three-game series against the Blue Jays, Bogaerts will remain in Boston and could rejoin the team in Tampa Bay later this week.
"I've never been on the DL so it'll be a long five days without playing baseball," he said.
Ortiz also has had a rough couple of days. On Saturday, he was hit on his left elbow by a pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning. He was removed from the game in the ninth with a contusion and swelling on his left arm.
He was able to return to the lineup on Sunday, before he fouled a pitch off his foot during his third plate appearance of the game. He dropped to the ground and was clearly in pain while being tended to by Farrell and a team trainer.
Ortiz remained in the game and struck out swinging during that at-bat. In the bottom of the sixth, he provided a two-out single off the right-field wall and limped his way to first base. Again, Farrell and a trainer checked on him and it didn't take long for Ortiz to be removed.
Kelly Johnson replaced Ortiz and provided a RBI double in the bottom of the eighth to cut Boston's deficit to 7-6. In the ninth inning with the Red Sox trailing 8-6, Johnson stepped into the batter's box with two outs and the bases loaded, but he struck out swinging to end the game.
"Anytime you lose David Ortiz out of your lineup it's a hole," Farrell said. "That's not to take anything away from Kelly Johnson, who doubled in his first at-bat, we'd like to have David up at the plate more often than the four or five times a night to begin with, so yeah, he's someone who's been a main cog in our offense daily. Hopefully, this is just a short-lived loss in the lineup for him."
Ortiz has been locked in at the plate of late. Prior to leaving Sunday's game, he reached base in 20 of his last 26 plate appearances. In his last 12 games, he's hitting .442 (19-for-43) with four doubles, four home runs, 11 RBIs, 10 walks and a hit-by-pitch.