Sale hit by liner, expects to be OK for opener

This was not the sight the Boston Red Sox envisioned in Chris Sale’s final spring training tuneup: Their ace crumpled on the ground, knocked off the mound by a line drive.

Sale quickly got up, flexed his leg a few times and walked off the field under his own power Saturday. The AL East champions called it a bruised left hip, and Sale said the injury wasn’t serious and wouldn’t jeopardize his opening day start Thursday at Tampa Bay.

“I don’t see anything lingering from this,” Sale said. “Looked a lot worse than it really is.”

Sale was struck by a liner off the bat of Houston’s J.D. Davis in the first inning. A day earlier, San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner sustained a broken pitching hand when he was hit a line drive and will miss at least a month. X-rays were negative. “When it first hit me, it kind of got me in the hip, but got the nerve. So it shot all the way down to my foot. So, that’s what kind of made me worried,” he said. “I was telling them when I was out there, ‘Give me a minute. It’ll come back. I’ll be fine.’ They didn’t want to wait, so came in here, got it evaluated, looked at, figured out nothing series, just a bruise.”

“It kind of just shocked me more than anything, that initial blow,” he said.

Manager Alex Cora said he expects Sale to pitch the opener.

“I bet, yeah,” Cora said. “He was committed to throw more pitches in the game. I was like, ‘No you’re not throwing.”

Vazquez re-signs

Catcher Christian Vazquez and the Boston Red Sox have reached agreement on a new contract that takes him through the 2021 season.

The deal announced Saturday includes a team option for 2022. Media reports said Vazquez, who had been signed for 2018, was assured more than $13 million with the three extra guaranteed years.

The Red Sox have long regarded the 27-year-old Vazquez, a ninthround draft pick in 2008, as their catcher of the future.

Strong behind the plate, he has thrown out 42 percent (42 of 100) of would-be basestealers in 211 major league games. That’s the best rate among catchers with at least 200 games in the last 30 years.

Vazquez hit .290 with five home runs and 32 RBIs last season, starting 85 times at catcher.

Bird hurt

Yankees first baseman Greg Bird was scratched from the starting lineup in a split-squad road game Saturday against Atlanta because of a sore right foot.

Bird had an initial examination by team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Daniel Murphy and was scheduled to undergo both a CT scan and MRI exam.

“I’m worried about it, to be honest,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “I’m not sure what we’re dealing with but Greg, when he can tee it up it’s a problem for us. He’s a vital member of our organization. Hopefully if he’s going to be down, it won’t be long.”

Neil Walker or Tyler Austin could fill in for Bird if he misses any regular-season games. The Yankees open the season Thursday at Toronto.

This is the second consecutive year that Bird had a late spring training injury.