BOSTON — An awkward trip on second base cost the Red Sox one of their top sluggers for Tuesday’s American League wild-card game.

J.D. Martinez was left off the roster for the Red Sox’s showdown against the Yankees at Fenway Park, two days after he stumbled over the bag running out to play right field during Game 162.

“Obviously we know what he means to us and the fact that he cannot play today is a tough one,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said before the game. “But, at the same time, [the Yankees] got some guys over there that they’re banged up. They’re not part of it. And I think this is the grind of 162 games. The way it happened, I mean, J.D. has been stepping on that bag for 10 years. It just happened that, slip, and he’s out now.”

Martinez, the Red Sox’s regular DH who was playing in the outfield because the Red Sox were visiting the Nationals, hit .286 with a league-leading 42 doubles, 28 home runs and a .867 OPS during the regular season. The Yankees did have his number during their regular-season series, though, limiting him to a .186/.258/.356 slash line and two home runs in 17 games.

Without Martinez available, Kyle Schwarber moved to DH on Tuesday night instead of having to play out of position at first base. That opened a spot for the right-handed Bobby Dalbec to get into the lineup at first base against Gerrit Cole.

While Martinez’s freak injury will likely go down as one of the most bizarre injuries to keep an important player out of a playoff game, the Red Sox felt like they were prepared for it.

“We’ve dealt with adversity all year long,” center fielder Kiké Hernandez said. “We’ve dealt with doubts, we’ve dealt with pretty much everything. And it almost seems — like, not fitting — but it’s almost like, well, that was the one thing that was going to happen for the wild-card game, we don’t have J.D. But we’ve done it all year.”