Price not expected to miss next start because of cracked fingernail

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BOSTON — David Price was bothered by a cracked nail on his middle finger on Saturday night, Red Sox manager John Farrell said Sunday morning, clearing up some vague comments from Price after his start.

The nail problem developed during Saturday’s 6-3 loss to the Angels. It’s unclear at this point if Price will throw his regular side session before his next start. Either way, Farrell said everything points to Price making that next appearance.

“He had a little bit of a fingernail issue that he was starting to feel, and while I thought he was still very strong last night, I felt like we had a chance to hopefully stay ahead of something more severe taking place,” Farrell said. “So he's dealing with a little bit of a cracked nail on that middle finger, not the same finger in which the blister has appeared on.

“This is something that he's dealt with in the past. Knows that it can lead to something that might affect him more. So to take him out of the game at that time rather than risk further cracking of the nail and further severity to the way it feels.”

A blister Price dealt with this month developed on his ring finger.

Price talked about his removal after six innings against the Angels as a decision made with the long term in mind, and hinted at something physically bothering him. He was at 103 pitches with three runs, two earned, allowed.

"There's a lot of stuff going on right now,” Price said Saturday night. “You don't want it to linger into the next start, or two or three weeks from now, and that's why we did what we did." 

Despite the nail, Price showed much better command than he has lately, and his velocity has been very strong — better than one could have expected coming back from an elbow injury that took away the first two months of the season.

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