The Boston Red Sox are still within striking distance of the third wild card spot in the American League, as they find themselves only four games back from the red-hot Seattle Mariners. On Wednesday night, the Red Sox scored a 7-5 win over the Houston Astros to remain near their tails in the playoff race. But it did not come without a cost, as the team saw one of its best relievers, Kenley Jansen, exit the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Jansen had only thrown three pitches to that point, but it was clear that he was experiencing discomfort in his lower body. He was walking gingerly towards the clubhouse, which is a worrying sign for the Red Sox contingent heading into the September stretch run. Following the game, a contest that ended in extra innings euphoria for the Red Sox, the team announced that the 35-year old reliever exited prematurely due to left hamstring tightness, per Mass Live.

In Kenley Jansen's stead, the Red Sox relied on Nick Pivetta and Josh Winckowski to try and seal the deal against the Astros on Wednesday night. While those two ended up finishing the job for them, their relief outings did not come without its nervy moments. Winckowski, in particular, had to pitch the Red Sox out of the jam he created.

Winckowski allowed three hits in the bottom of the 10th inning, even allowing the lead runner from second base to score to cut the Red Sox's lead to just two runs. He then proceeded to load the bases after allowing a single to Jeremy Pena. But after that, the 25-year old reliever found his groove, striking out Mauricio Dubon and inducing a groundout from Corey Julks to give the Red Sox their 67th win of the season.

Nevertheless, the Red Sox will be needing Kenley Jansen to recover as soon as possible. He has been the team's best reliever thus far this season, having tallied 1.2 WAR (per Fangraphs) to go along with 29 saves. The team will be needing the likes of Chris Martin, Pivetta, Winckowski, and Brennan Bernardino to be at their best to help reinforce the team's bullpen should Jansen need to miss some time.