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BOSTON — Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela, who came off the injured list on Wednesday, left the game against the Cleveland Guardians before the third inning after pulling up while running out a single in the second.

Rafaela, who started and made a diving catch on the game’s first batter, had been sidelined since Sept. 3 with a right quad strain.

The team announced that he left with right hamstring tightness.

He singled off the Green Monster in the second inning and came up lame at first base. He was visited by manager Chad Tracy and a trainer, jogged a bit down the right-field foul line and stayed in the game.

He then trotted out to his position for the top of the third, but came walking off. He was replaced by Jarren Duran.

“He had like a little tightness in the upper hamstring, more on the swing,” Tracy said after their 1-0 victory over the Guardians. “I still saw him kind of flexing it a little bit (when he was heading to center), so I said ‘Let’s get him out of there.’ Everything so far is OK, they are going to get an MRI (Thursday) just to rule out anything.”

Rafaela, who won his first Gold Glove last season, made a headlong dive to rob Steve Kwan in right center on the third pitch of the game. He handled all three putouts the first inning.

“I was excited since (Tuesday) to be back on the field with the boys, then with the swing I felt a little bit of a cramp,” he said. “I was not happy.”

He said he still felt it a bit when he went to center.

“The sensation was there, it was just a cramp,” he said. “After that, I got in (the clubhouse) and did what I needed to do, and right now I feel much better.”

He was batting .284 with 16 homers and 70 RBI coming into Wednesday’s game.

To make room for him, the club optioned INF/OF Nate Eaton to Triple-A Worcester.

THE RED SOX are adjusting the schedule of their weekend series against the Chicago Cubs because of a significant storm that’s expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds to the Boston area.

The team said it was moving the Sunday afternoon game to Friday to create a split doubleheader. The first game is scheduled to begin at 1:05 p.m. The originally scheduled 7:05 p.m. night game was moved up to 6:05.

The Red Sox said in a press release Wednesday that the change was made in consultation with Major League Baseball.

The Cubs are currently in a tight race for one of the NL’s three wild-card spots.

There was no mention of a change to Saturday’s game, which is slated for a 7:15 p.m. first pitch.