Boston Red Sox

David Ortiz had to be helped off the field after an injury

Published Nov. 15, 2016 3:06 p.m. ET

Chris Bahr

Big Papi gave the Red Sox a big scare on Wednesday night.

During his at-bat in the bottom of the ninth inning of a 9-4 loss to the Yankees, David Ortiz fouled a 99-mph pitch off his right shin and had to be helped off the field.

When a guy this big and tough can’t shake it off and stay in the game, you know it hurt. Fortunately for the Red Sox, X-rays were negative and Ortiz is day-to-day.

"My heart sunk a little bit when I saw it, but fortunately, I just saw him back there," Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said, per the team’s website. "He's doing much better. It's not broken. He looks like he's moving around pretty good right now, considering how he was. Before, we had to carry him off, basically, but he's now walking. He's standing around on his own. It hit off him solid, but he's doing much better."

The 40-year-old Ortiz is in his final season, so a broken bone could have been career-ending. It also would have been detrimental to Boston’s postseason chances. The Red Sox are 2.5 games behind the AL East-leading Orioles but have a one-game lead for the second AL wild card.