In signature 2026 Boston Red Sox fashion, they rallied late and completed a comeback from three runs down against the Texas Rangers after they scored three runs in the eighth to take a 4-3 lead they would not relinquish. But even with the Red Sox facing a save situation in the bottom of the ninth, it wasn't closer Aroldis Chapman who came off the bullpen to shut the door on the Rangers.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy rolled with Garrett Whitlock in the bottom of the ninth, and Whitlock responded with a save, improving Boston to 83-70 on the season. After the game, Tracy revealed that Chapman wasn't available on the night anyway as the hard-throwing lefty is currently dealing with a “lat issue”, as per Tim Healey of the Boston Globe.

Tracy added that the Red Sox are going to be “conservative” with utilizing Chapman off the pen to end the regular season, as keeping him healthy for the postseason is going to be important for this team.

Chapman last made an appearance for the Red Sox on the 13th of September in a 4-1 win over the Kansas City Royals. While he did allow two walks in that save situation, he made up for it by striking the side, making it look as though he wasn't dealing with any injury.

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Nonetheless, the Red Sox, now armed with a seven-game cushion over the AL Wild Card cutoff line, have the luxury anyway to bring Chapman along slowly.

The Red Sox also have other injury matters to deal with. According to Healey, Tracy also said that first baseman Willson Contreras, who recently returned to the lineup (returning on September 13 against the Royals), is dealing with a bruised right hand and is currently day-to-day. The good news for Boston is that his X-rays turned out negative.

With the Red Sox on the cusp of sealing a postseason spot, they can afford to do whatever it takes to keep their core players healthy so that they can trot out their best squad come postseason time.