Why Red Sox pitcher David Price won't start Wednesday vs. Yankees

Boston Red Sox pitcher David Price won’t make his scheduled start against the Yankees on Wednesday.

NEW YORK — Boston Red Sox pitcher David Price won’t start against the Yankees on Wednesday due to numbness in his pitching hand.

The left hander returned to Boston prior to Tuesday’s series-opening game at Yankee Stadium for further evaluation. He felt the numbness during a bullpen session on Sunday.

Rick Porcello, who was originally slated to pitch on Thursday, was bumped up to Wednesday, and left hander Eduardo Rodriguez will start in the series finale on Thursday.

Price’s injury appears related to the same symptoms that forced him to leave an April 11 start against the Yankees at Fenway Park in Boston after one inning. Price allowed four runs in an eventual 10-7 Yankees win.

Yankees’ lineup vs. Red Sox

Price made his next scheduled start on April 17, but Red Sox manager Alex Cora does not know how long the second occurrence injury could sideline the left hander.

“I’m not saying that he’ll miss the next start or there’s a DL situation here,” Cora said. “But obviously we want to make sure what’s going on with him.”

Cora said, to his knowledge, the numbness was not an issue in any of Price’s five starts following his brief April 11 outing.

Cora was not at the bullpen session, which coaches and Price ended early.

“It was Sunday, and (Monday) he came here, got treatment, threw a little bit,” Cora said. “We decided it was better for him to go back to Boston, check it out and go from there.”

Price did not undergo any tests following the first round of numbness in his hand, partially because of the cold weather on that April night.

“Everybody thought, everybody agreed that it was just something that happened that night,” Cora said. “We actually felt it was something that wasn’t going to happen. It was just a one-day thing. Obviously with the weather, we talked about it, and we thought that it wasn’t going to happen again.”