BOSTON — Red Sox right-hander Hunter Dobbins said on Saturday he knew his season was probably over when he felt a familiar feeling in his knee.
He was right. Dobbins was diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, his second ACL tear in his right knee.
''Yeah. I've torn my ACL in this knee before and it was the same feeling,'' he said, standing in the middle of Boston's clubhouse with a red sleeve on his right leg. ''Kind of some denial went into it, tried to go through that warm-up pitch, felt the same sensation again so, at that point, I knew what it was.''
Dobbins tore the same ACL playing high school football.
Covering first base in the second inning of Boston's 5-4 walk-off win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night, the 25-year-old Dobbins stepped awkwardly and limped after recording an out by making a catch on a throw from first baseman Abraham Toro.
Dobbins took one warm-up toss before manager Alex Cora stopped him from attempting any more.
''Tough,'' Cora said before the Red Sox faced the Rays. ''He put himself on the map, right, did a good job for us. When it happened, I thought something minor. Talking to him, he felt it right away. He's been through that before.''
Dobbins said he found out about Boston's dramatic win while being examined.
