Red Sox’ Garrett Whitlock has elbow inflammation, was unavailable as bullpen imploded in loss to Jays

TORONTO — Tyron Guerrero’s eighth-inning implosion in Wednesday’s loss came with an ominous postgame development for the Red Sox: Garrett Whitlock was unavailable to pitch that inning because he’s dealing with inflammation in his pitching elbow.

After going to Justin Slaten in the sixth inning and Erik Miller in the seventh in relief of starter Ranger Suarez, interim manager Chad Tracy had Guerrero, and not Whitlock, enter for the eighth in a 1-1 game. Toronto scored five times off Guerrero, who didn’t record an out, and went on to win, 6-3.

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Guerrero was thrown into a higher-leverage spot because Whitlock wasn’t able to pitch.

“He’s dealing with a little bit of inflammation in his elbow, so we’ve got to check in and see where we’re at there,” said Tracy. “We’ve got to see how he responds, how he feels tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”

At this point, Whitlock has not had any imaging on his elbow and is unsure if he will require an injured list stint. The discomfort had been “building,” he said, since right before Boston’s west coast road trip to Sacramento and Los Angeles two weeks ago. He warmed up to enter Tuesday’s game but didn’t end up pitching. After that bullpen session, things hit a terminal point.

“It was kinda gradually getting that way and it’s getting to a pretty good point (of discomfort),” Whitlock said.

“I don’t think there’s anything structurally wrong with it,” Whitlock said. “Obviously, I’m sure there’s probably a lot of inflammation in there. My concern for need of any drastic measures is very low.”

Whitlock has had another stellar season as Boston’s eighth-inning arm. He has logged a 2.05 ERA in

“We haven’t gotten any imaging or anything. I don’t think — and I hope it doesn’t come to that kind of thing. Been throwing a lot, getting warmed up a lot which has been the big thing. Tightened up on me after warming up last night and we’re just gonna go from there.”

Guerrero — an out-of-nowhere sensation since being promoted in mid-May — had allowed just three earned runs in 27 ⅓ innings dating back to May 28 before entering Wednesday. With less command than usual and a fastball that was down a tick in terms of velocity, the righty allowed back-to-back singles to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk before Willson Contreras dropped a foul pop-up off the bat of Kazuma Okamoto, extending his at-bat long enough for Okamoto to put Toronto ahead with a single of his own. Guerrero then walked Andrés Giménez (intentionally) and Ernie Clement (unintentionally, forcing in a run) before Alec Gamboa entered and allowed three inherited runners to score.

Guerrero’s ERA rose from 2.03 to 3.19 in minutes.

“It’s baseball,” he said. “Sometimes that’s what happens. I have been throwing the ball really good since I (got here), and today wasn’t the night.

“Nothing changed on me. I gave it everything that I had tonight. (Expletive) happens.”

Added Tracy: “They were able to get some good at-bats on him and put traffic out there. It’s really nothing more than that.”

Guerrero’s appearance was his 15th since July 5 and Whitlock, who got plenty of holds during Boston’s 27-3 stretch over the past few weeks, threw 17 times in a 38-day period from July 3 to August 9. If Whitlock is sidelined for any period of time, Guerrero will likely become the main eighth-inning option ahead of closer Aroldis Chapman.

For now, it’s wait-and-see mode for Whitlock, who acknowledged that it’s “very tough” to be shut down — at least momentarily — for a team that has lost five games in a row in the middle of a playoff race.

“Especially with the position we’re in and everything,” he said. “I’m gonna let the medical people do their thing and the coaches do their thing, and go from there.”

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