G153: Pirates 3, Red Sox 2

Red Sox - 001 000 010 - 2  8  1
Pirates - 100 110 00x - 3  7  0

Brandon Workman / Gerrit Cole

Betts, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, 1B
Craig, RF
Nava, LF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Bradley, CF
Vazquez, C
Workman, P

Our cleanup hitter is batting .127/.257/.222 in a Red Sox uniform. Pathetic.

G152: Pirates 9, Red Sox 1

Red Sox - 000 010 000 - 1  5  1
Pirates - 131 040 00x - 9 15  1

Clay Buchholz / Francisco Liriano

Betts, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Craig, RF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Castillo, CF
Vazquez, C
Buchholz, P

Rusney Castillo will make his major league debut tonight.

G151: Pirates 4, Red Sox 0

Red Sox - 000 000 000 - 0  7  1
Pirates - 020 001 10x - 4  7  0

Anthony Ranaudo / Charlie Morton

Betts, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Nava, RF
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Middlebrooks, 3B
Bradley, CF
Vazquez, C
Ranaudo, P

G150: Red Sox 8, Royals 4

Red Sox - 003 004 100 - 8  8  0
Royals  - 040 000 000 - 4  9  0

Daniel Nava and Xander Bogaerts each drove in four runs.

Bogaerts (3-for-4) hit a three-run homer in the third and added a sac fly in the seventh. ... Nava hit a grand slam in the sixth. ... Mookie Betts went 2-for-4 and scored twice. ... David Ross walked twice and scored two runs. ... Joe Kelly: 6-5-4-2-3, 99.

Joe Kelly / Jason Vargas

Betts, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Craig, 1B
Nava, RF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Ross, C
Bradley, CF

Semi-Random MFY Note: In 35 games since August 3, Derek Jeter is hitting .177/.213/.199.

G149: Royals 7, Red Sox 1

Red Sox - 001 000 000 - 1  4  1
Royals  - 200 300 02x - 7 12  1

Rubby De La Rosa / Jeremy Guthrie

Betts, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Nava, RF
Napoli, 1B
Bradley, CF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Vazquez, C

G148: Red Sox 4, Royals 2

Red Sox - 003 010 000 - 4  8  0
Royals  - 000 200 000 - 2  4  1

Allen Webster / Yordano Ventura

Betts, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Nava, DH
Cespedes, LF
Craig, 1B
Middlebrooks, 3B
Bradley, CF
Vazquez, C
Weeks, 2B

G147: Red Sox 6, Royals 3

Red Sox - 012 100 020 - 6  9  1
Royals  - 020 001 000 - 3  6  3

Clay Buchholz / Liam Hendriks

Betts, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Middlebrooks, 3B
Bradley, CF
Vazquez, C
Weeks, 2B

The Royals (80-64) lead the AL Central by one game over the Tigers, who have the day off.

Pedroia Will Have Left Hand Surgery On Thursday

Dustin Pedroia, bothered for most of the season by inflammation in his left hand and wrist, will have surgery tomorrow in Boston. Why the Red Sox continued playing Pedroia at second base for weeks of meaningless games before having this problem properly taken care of is a mystery.

ESPNBoston notes: "This will be the third successive year in which Pedroia will have had surgery for a hand injury. In addition to repairing his ulnar collateral ligament last November, Pedroia had a pin inserted into his right pinkie finger in October 2012."

G146: Orioles 10, Red Sox 6

Orioles - 006 020 002 - 10 15  0
Red Sox - 000 000 105 -  6  8  1

I tuned in to NESN during the bottom of the ninth inning to hear some wisdom from analyst Steve Lyons. He was apparently talking about the excessive length of baseball games and he proposed a great suggestion to "speed the game up". Umpires should "call more strikes". Apparently, Lyons believes umpires should call more strikes no matter where the pitched ball is in relation to the strike zone defined by the rule book. Doing so would "force batters to swing the bat" - and games would go faster.

That's the level of analysis you get on NESN.

This loss also officially eliminated the Red Sox from all playoff contention. ... Wait 'til next year!

Wei-Yin Chen / Brandon Workman

Betts, CF
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Craig, 1B
Nava, RF
Rivero, 3B
Butler, C
Weeks, 2B

G145: Orioles 4, Red Sox 1

Orioles - 202 000 000 - 4 10  0
Red Sox - 000 100 000 - 1  8  0

Daniel Nava, Xander Bogaerts and Carlos Rivero (appearing in his second MLB game) each had two hits.

Bogaerts hit a solo home run in the fourth.

Matt Barnes made his major league debut, pitching the final three innings (3-3-0-0-2, 38).

Chris Tillman / Anthony Ranaudo

Betts, CF
Nava, RF
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Bogaerts, SS
Middlebrooks, 3B
Weeks, 2B
Vazquez, C

ESPN's Kyle Brasseur tweets: "Farrell revealed Dustin Pedroia has been dealing with a left hand injury that an MRI showed inflammation of. Could be shutdown for season ... Red Sox still gathering information on the injury before making a decision"

Pedroia has posted career-worst numbers in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage this season (not counting his brief call-up at the end of 2006).

G144: Orioles 4, Red Sox 0

Orioles - 010 002 100 - 4  7  1
Red Sox - 000 000 000 - 0  7  3

Miguel Gonzalez / Joe Kelly

Betts, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Nava, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Middlebrooks, 3B
Ross, C

G143: Blue Jays 3, Red Sox 1

Blue Jays - 000 030 000 - 3  9  0
Red Sox   - 000 001 000 - 1  6  1

Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts each had two hits. Bogaerts drove in Boston's lone run.

R.A. Dickey / Rubby De La Rosa

Betts, RF
Nava, LF
Pedroia, 2B
Cespedes, DH
Bogaerts, SS
Craig, 1B
Middlebrooks, 3B
Bradley, CF
Vazquez, C

G142: Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 3

Blue Jays - 100 000 200 - 3  8  0
Red Sox   - 111 100 00x - 4  8  0

A.J. Happ / Clay Buchholz

Betts, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Bogaerts, SS
Craig, RF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Vazquez, C

G141: Red Sox 9, Blue Jays 8 (10)

Blue Jays - 200 002 020 2 - 8 13  1
Red Sox   - 111 000 030 3 - 9 16  0

Wow. This was Boston's first win in a game in which they trailed by at least two runs in extra innings since July 20, 1988.

Facing Casey Janssen in the bottom of the 10th:

Mookie Betts singled to center.
Xander Bogaerts singled to left.
Christian Vazquez singled on a bunt to second, loading the bases.
Will Middlebrooks singled to left, scoring Betts, loading the bases.
Jemile Weeks pinch-ran for Vazquez.
Dustin Pedroia hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Bogaerts.
David Ortiz was safe at first on an infield error, loading the bases.
Yoenis Cespedes singled to deep center, scoring Weeks.

Cespedes went 4-for-6 and drove in two runs; he also stole third. Bogaerts had three hits and two RBI. Betts scored three runs.

Drew Hutchison / Allen Webster

Holt, 3B
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Nava, RF
Betts, CF
Bogaerts, SS
Vazquez, C

G140: Yankees 5, Red Sox 4

Red Sox - 102 010 000 - 4  7  0
Yankees - 003 000 002 - 5  7  1

David Ortiz hit two home runs to give Boston an early 3-0 lead. After New York tied the game, Brock Holt homered to put the Red Sox up 4-3. But then Koji Uehara allowed two solo home runs in the bottom of the ninth.

Brandon Workman / Chris Capuano

G139: Yankees 5, Red Sox 1

Red Sox - 000 001 000 - 1  6  0
Yankees - 020 010 20x - 5 11  0

Yep, too much to ask.

Anthony Ranaudo / Hiroki Kuroda

I will be at this game - my 22nd major league park. (Info on the first games at the other 21 parks is here.) ... Would a repeat of last night be too much to ask?

G138: Red Sox 9, Yankees 4

Red Sox - 204 100 002 - 9 12  1
Yankees - 001 020 001 - 4  7  0

Xander Bogaerts had four hits: two singles, double, home run. Daniel Nava hit a three-run bomb. Mookie Betts also homered, and singled twice. Yoenis Cespedes singled, doubled and tripled.

Joe Kelly / Shane Greene

I will be signing copies of Don't Let Us Win Tonight at Professor Thom's, a Red Sox bar in Manhattan, this evening at 7 PM, during the Red Sox/Yankees game. If you are in the area, come over to 219 Second Avenue (between 13th/14th Streets) and say Hello. And take home a signed hard cover for only $20 (while supplies last).

G137: Rays 4, Red Sox 3 (10)

Red Sox - 001 100 010 0 - 3  6  0
Rays    - 003 000 000 1 - 4  9  0

Rubby De La Rosa / Drew Smyly

Japanese High School Game Lasts 50 Innings

CHU: 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 03 - 3 22  1
SOT: 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 00 - 0 26  5

Samer Kalaf, Deadspin:

A baseball game in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan that started Thursday took 50 innings and four days to determine a winner, which is amazing in its own way, but wait until you see the two starters' pitch counts.

Chukyo finally defeated Sotoku 3-0 in the 50th Sunday morning, but look at those pitching lines. Both starting pitchers played the entire game. Taiga Matsui hurled 709 pitches for Chukyo, and Sotoku's Jukiya Ishioka threw 689 pitches. Even over the course of four days, holy shit. ...

If the game had surpassed 54 innings, the winner would have been decided by a lottery, which would have sucked for the team that played 54 innings of baseball and didn't get picked.

Linescore and more info here.

G136: Red Sox 3, Rays 0

Red Sox - 001 010 010 - 3  9  0
Rays    - 000 000 000 - 0  3  1

Clay Buchholz pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout. He struck out six and did not issue a walk. He threw only 98 pitches.

Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts each singled, doubled, and scored a run. Betts also drove in a run, as did David Ortiz and Christian Vazquez.

Clay Buchholz / Alex Cobb

Holt, 2B
Betts, CF
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Nava, RF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Vazquez, C

Playing for the Gulf Coast League Red Sox today, Rusney Castillo singled in his first at-bat and was thrown out trying to steal second base.

The Red Sox made a trade, sending Kelly Johnson and minor league infielder Michael Almanzar to the Orioles for infielders Jemile Weeks and Ivan De Jesus.

G135: Rays 7, Red Sox 0

Red Sox - 000 000 000 - 0  1  1
Rays    - 030 130 00x - 7  7  1

The Red Sox were held to one hit for the second time in 10 days, and for the third time this season.

Boston had only one hit on July 24 and August 21. ... Will Middlebrooks singled to lead off the fourth inning. ... Allen Webster lasted only four innings (4-5-6-3-3, 81).

Allen Webster / Jake Odorizzi

Holt, 3B
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Nava, RF
Craig, 1B
Betts, CF
Bogaerts, SS
Ross, C

G134: Red Sox 8, Rays 4

Red Sox - 350 000 000 - 8 11  0
Rays    - 010 020 001 - 4  9  3

The Red Sox sent nine men to the plate in both the first and second innings against Chris "Guardian Of The Game" Archer (4-9-8-2-3, 98). Mookie Betts's grand slam was the big blow in the second.

The last game in which the Red Sox batted around in each of the first two innings? August 14, 1962. ... Betts is the youngest Red Sox player to hit a grand slam since Tony Conigliaro (August 24, 1965, G1).

Daniel Nava had three hits, and Yoenis Cespedes, Brock Holt, and Betts each had two. Cespedes also scored twice and drove in two runs. ... Anthony Ranaudo (6-5-3-3-4, 99) has pitched six innings in each of his three major league starts. Boston has won all three of those games.

Anthony Ranaudo / Chris Archer

Holt, SS
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Nava, RF
Betts, CF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Vazquez, C

The Red Sox need to win 12 of their remaining 29 games to finish at 70-92, which would be one game better than their performance in 2012.

G133: Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 2

Red Sox   - 000 002 000 - 2  5  1
Blue Jays - 100 000 40x - 5  6  1

Joe Kelly / Marcus Stroman

Holt, SS
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Napoli, 1B
Nava, LF
Craig, RF
Betts, CF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Ross, C

Edwin Escobar was called up, while Heath Hembree was optioned to Pawtucket. ... Xander Bogaerts will be activated on Saturday in Tampa Bay. ... 20 Questions with Brock Holt.

G132: Red Sox 11, Blue Jays 7 (11)

Red Sox   - 300 000 100 07 - 11 14  0
Blue Jays - 001 110 100 03 -  7 15  2

Elias:

The Red Sox have played well over 3,000 extra innings (that's individual innings, not extra-inning games) in franchise history, and it's only the fourth time that they have scored at least seven runs in one of those innings (against Detroit in 2005, at Angel Stadium in 1982, and at Comiskey Park against the White Sox in 1973).

Also, the Blue Jays played their fourth consecutive extra-innings game for the first time since September 16-20, 1991.

Rubby De La Rosa / R.A. Dickey

Holt, SS
Pedroia, 2B
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, DH
Nava, RF
Craig, 1B
Middlebrooks, 3B
Betts, CF
Vazquez, C

G131: Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 3 (10)

Red Sox   - 000 030 000 1 - 4  8  0
Blue Jays - 000 000 003 0 - 3  5  0

Clay Buchholz / J.A. Happ

Holt, SS
Pedroia, 2B
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, DH
Craig, 1B
Nava, RF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Betts, CF
Vazquez, C

Bogaerts Placed On Concussion DL

The Red Sox have placed Xander Bogaerts - who was hit in the head by Felix Hernandez on Friday night - on the seven-day disabled list.

The team has called up Carlos Rivero, 26, who is hitting .286/.341/.407 in 74 games with Pawtucket.

Since August 2, Bogaerts has been 6-for-62 (.097/.183/.129). For the season, he's at .223/.293/.333.

G130: Mariners 8, Red Sox 6

Mariners - 300 120 011 - 8 13  0
Red Sox  - 302 000 010 - 6 13  0

Kelly Johnson struck out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth as the Red Sox lost their eighth consecutive game. Boston finished its homestand with a 2-9 record, the first time the team has lost nine games during a homestand since 1994.

Johnson was batting in the ninth as the DH because David Ortiz left the game in the sixth inning after fouling a ball off his right shin. (Ortiz has been red-hot at the plate, reaching base in 20 of his last 26 plate appearances.)

Yoenis Cespedes went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. .. Will Middlebrooks drove in three runs. ... Brock Holt, Mookie Betts, Allen Craig, and Middlebrooks each had two hits. ... Holt scored twice. ... Webster: 4.1-8-6-2-5, 79.

Hisashi Iwakuma / Allen Webster

Holt, SS
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Craig, RF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Betts, CF
Vazquez, C

Xander Bogaerts will undergo more concussion tests today. ... Brandon Workman was optioned to Pawtucket and Heath Hembree was called up.

G129: Mariners 7, Red Sox 3

Mariners - 000 700 000 - 7 10  2
Red Sox  - 111 000 000 - 3  9  0

Boston lost its seventh straight game.

In those seven losses, the Red Sox are 4-for-57 (.070) with runners in scoring position.

Chris Young / Brandon Workman

Holt, SS
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Nava, RF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Betts, CF
Ross, C

G128: Mariners 5, Red Sox 3

Mariners - 000 000 005 - 5  7  0
Red Sox  - 000 003 000 - 3  5  1

With a runner on third and one out in the sixth inning, the Mariners instructed Felix Hernandez to intentionally walk the insanely-hot David Ortiz - who was at that moment 10 for his last 12. Yoenis Cespedes then blasted a 2-2 pitch to deep left field for a three-run homer.

All seemed well as Koji Uehara set down the first batter in the ninth. Then everything went to shit. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs. Austin Jackson doubled home two runs, Dustin Ackley singled in two more, and Robinson Cano singled in the fifth run of the inning. Koji was lifted - after facing eight batters - in favour of Edward Mujica, who recorded the third out.

It's the first time Uehara has allowed more than three earned runs as a reliever and his first game in a Red Sox uniform allowing more than two runs.

Facing Fernando Rodney in the bottom of the ninth, Will Middlebrooks grounded to second and Brock Holt flied to left. Mookie Betts walked - creating a bit of hope - but Christian Vazquez flied to right.

Joe Kelly (5-1-0-3-5, 88) was pulled after what seemed like shoulder stiffness. ... Xander Bogaerts was hit in the helmet by a pitch (changeup/89) and later removed from the game.

The Red Sox are now 44-1 when leading after eight innings.

Felix Hernandez / Joe Kelly

Nava, 1B
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Craig, RF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Betts, CF
Vazquez, C

Red Sox Sign Cuban Outfielder Rusney Castillo

Gordon Edes, ESPNBoston:

The Boston Red Sox landed the services of Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo, agreeing to a seven-year, $72.5 million contract, a team source told ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes on Friday.

Castillo, 27, will join the team this season, the source added, and is expected to undergo a physical in Boston on Saturday. ...

At 5-foot-9, 185 pounds, Castillo isn't a pure masher in the mold of Jose Abreu or Cespedes. But his power/speed combo has drawn comparisons to Andrew McCutchen and Yasiel Puig.

Alex Speier, WEEI:

The 5-foot-9 Castillo is viewed as a player with elite speed that allows him to be a game-changer on the bases and also permits him considerable range in the outfield, where he can play center or right. He also shows the ability to impact the ball as a line-drive/gap hitter.

Castillo's former teammate Yoenis Cespedes offered the following description of Castillo to WEEI.com earlier this month: "If he's not a five-tool player, he's a least a four-tool player. He's very comparable to Puig. Obviously a different height and size, but very similar qualities."

Puig may be a bit of a stretch as a comparable talent; one evaluator suggested that the Sox signed Castillo more with an eye toward acquiring a player along the lines of a Shane Victorino in his prime — a terrific athlete who has outstanding speed, can play center or right field (more likely center) for the Sox at a high level, and, while not having the power of a Jose Abreu, possesses an ability to impact the baseball that suggests the potential for double-digit home run totals.

G127: Angels 2, Red Sox 0

Angels  - 100 000 100 - 2  9  0
Red Sox - 000 000 000 - 0  1  0

The Red Sox had three baserunners:

The Hit: Will Middlebrooks's two-out double in the seventh.

The Walk: Mookie Betts, with two outs in the eighth.

The HBP: Brock Holt, leading off the first.

Matt Shoemaker / Rubby De La Rosa

Holt, 3B
Pedroia, 2B
Nava, RF
Cespedes, LF
Craig, DH
Johnson, 1B
Bogaerts, SS
Betts, CF
Vazquez, C

The Angels will try to sweep a four-game series against the Red Sox for the first time in more than 53 years (May 18-20, 1961).

Author Appearance: Professor Thom's, New York City, September 2

I will be signing copies of Don't Let Us Win Tonight at Professor Thom's, a Red Sox bar in Manhattan, on Tuesday evening, September 2.

The Red Sox will be in New York playing the Yankees that night, and I'll be at the bar during the game, which starts at 7 PM.

Thom's boasts a 41-foot bar and 17 LCD televisions. It's located at 219 Second Avenue, between 13th and 14th Street. Phone: 212-260-9480.

Feel free to stop by and say hello whether you're buying a book or not.

G126: Angels 8, Red Sox 3

Angels  - 000 150 101 - 8 11  2
Red Sox - 111 000 000 - 3 11  0

David Ortiz went 4-for-4 and hit his 30th home run of the year.

Ortiz has reached base four times in each the first three games of the Angels series, the first Boston player to reach base 4+ times in three straight games in 12 years (Johnny Damon, June 3-5, 2002).

Ortiz has hit 30+ home runs in eight seasons for the Red Sox, tying Ted Williams for the most seasons in team history.

Garrett Richards / Clay Buchholz

Holt, 3B
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Nava, RF
Johnson, 1B
Bogaerts, SS
Betts, CF
Ross, C

From ESPNBoston:

Highest ERA in a season by a Red Sox pitcher (min. 20 starts)

2011  John Lackey       6.41
2000  Ramon Martinez    6.13
1964  Jack Lamabe       5.89
2014  Clay Buchholz     5.79
2010  Josh Beckett      5.78

G125: Angels 4, Red Sox 3

Angels  - 003 000 001 - 4  9  0
Red Sox - 100 011 000 - 3  8  0

Jered Weaver / Allen Webster

Holt, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Napoli, 1B
Nava, LF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Betts, CF
Vazquez, C

G124: Angels 4, Red Sox 2

Angels  - 002 000 020 - 4  7  0
Red Sox - 000 100 001 - 2  9  2

C.J. Wilson / Brandon Workman

Holt, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Middlebrooks, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Betts, CF
Vazquez, C

Alex Speier, WEEI: Are The Red Sox Too Dependent On David Ortiz?

Ortiz, from this spring:

I'm 38 years old and I'm still the center of attention in the lineup. It shouldn't be like that. It shouldn't be like that. We should have a couple of studs in their 20s doing more than what I do. ... Guys my age are supposed to be complementary players. Nobody signs guys my age to be 'The Man.' If you look at every team, 'The Man' are guys in their prime.

Ortiz leads all MLB hitters with 91 RBI. ... He leads the Red Sox in slugging, but Mike Napoli has a slightly higher OPS (.845 to .841).

Jackie Bradley Sent To Pawtucket, Mookie Betts Called Up

The Red Sox have sent Jackie Bradley to Pawtucket and called up Mookie Betts.

Although Bradley has played superbly in center field, he has hit only .216/.288/.290, with strikeouts in 28.7% of his plate appearances. Although there was a fourteen-game stretch (June 29 to July 21) in which he batted .375, Bradley has gone 8-for-62 (.129) since then.

In 13 games this season, Betts is hitting .244/.279/.366. ... Betts has hit .386 in his last 10 games with the PawSox.

G123: Astros 8, Red Sox 1

Astros  - 061 000 001 - 8 11  0
Red Sox - 001 000 000 - 1  8  0

Joe Kelly (4-7-7-6-3, 91) allowed a career-worst six walks and a career-worst seven runs. He also gave up a grand slam to Jose Altuve (4-for-5). ... Kelly has issued 13 walks in his first three Boston starts.

On the plus side, Jackie Bradley singled twice and walked in three plate appearances. ... Will Middlebrooks also had two hits. ... Daniel Nava hit an RBI-double. ... Steven Wright helped out the bullpen by pitching the last four innings (4-4-1-0-4, 51).

Collin McHugh / Joe Kelly

Holt, 2B
Nava, RF
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Johnson, 1B
Bogaerts, SS
Middlebrooks, 3B
Bradley, CF
Butler, C

Dustin Pedroia - who turns 31 today - is out with flu-like symptoms.

Steven Wright was called up from Pawtucket, while Corey Brown was designated for assignment.

G122: Red Sox 10, Astros 7

Astros  - 212 100 001 -  7 12  1
Red Sox - 012 040 03x - 10 13  0

David Ortiz hit two home runs and a double, and drove in six runs, as the Red Sox rallied from being down 5-1 and 6-3.

Ortiz's first dong of the night - a two-run shot to center in the third - was his 400th as a Red Sock. He hit #401 two innings later. It was his 45th multi-HR game.

David Ortiz became the quickest Red Sox hitter to reach 400 home runs: Ortiz (1,630 games), Ted Williams (1,745), and Carl Yastrzemski (2,804).

Red Sox stat guy Jon Shestakofsky reports: "This is the first time David Ortiz has had 3 different multi-RBI hits in a game."

Ortiz now has 459 career dingers, tying him with Adam Dunn for 35th place all-time.

Daniel Nava went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs. Dustin Pedroia and Mike Napoli each had two hits. And four Boston players - Brock Holt, Pedroia, Ortiz, and Napoli - scored two runs each.

Rubby De La Rosa lasted only four innings (4-9-6-4-2, 89).

Brad Peacock / Rubby De La Rosa

Holt, 3B
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Nava, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Bradley, CF
Vazquez, C

David Ortiz: Mo'ne Davis "Throws Serious Cheese"

Mo'ne Davis, 13, became the first girl to throw a shutout in the Little League World Series. She plays for the Taney Dragons (Philadelphia).

Davis allowed only two hits in six innings. She did not walk anyone and struck out eight, as Taney beat Nashville, Tennessee, 4-0.

David Ortiz: "She throws serious cheese. She can pitch."

Davis's fastball has been clocked at 70 mph. She's got a hell of a curveball, too.

Cool sidebar: Mamie "Peanut" Johnson, 78 and the only female pitcher in the history of the Negro Leagues, was at the LLWS game.

G121: Astros 5, Red Sox 3 (10)

Astros  - 000 010 110 2 - 5 12  0
Red Sox - 000 200 100 0 - 3  6  1

Dallas Keuchel / Clay Buchholz

Holt, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Bogaerts, SS
Middlebrooks, 3B
Bradley, CF
Vazquez, C

G120: Red Sox 9, Astros 4

Astros  - 011 200 000 - 4  8  0
Red Sox - 000 107 01x - 9 14  1

Scott Feldman / Allen Webster

Holt, SS
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Nava, RF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Bradley, CF
Vazquez, C

Lester Remains Open On Returning To Red Sox

Jon Lester, Boston Herald:

My time there, the memories and all that stuff don't get erased based on this whole ordeal. I'm glad with where I'm at, and I understood where [Red Sox GM] Ben [Cherington] was at. At the end of the season, it's not going to change my mind about going back there if they are aggressive and competitive and do the things they say they're going to do. Boston is definitely a place I would go. ...

They told me, "We're going to be aggressive. You're going to get blown out of the water by some of these [other] offers." I'm like, "I don't need to be blown out of the water." Why would I need to be blown out of the water? That doesn't make or break your decision, at least for me. I'm not going to the highest bidder. I'm going to the place that makes me and my family happy. If that's Boston, it's Boston.

In his last eight starts for the Red Sox, Lester had a 1.07 ERA. ... In his three Oakland starts, Lester has allowed six runs in 21.2 innings (2.49 ERA), walking five and striking out 20. One of those outings was a complete-game, three-hit shutout against Minnesota.

G119: Red Sox 5, Reds 4

Red Sox - 200 030 000 - 5  8  0
Reds    - 001 210 000 - 4 10  0

Anthony Ranaudo: 6-8-4-1-1, 91.

Mike Napoli hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs. ... Brock Holt scored twice. ... Daniel Nava had two hits. ... Jackie Bradley singled in his first at-bat, snapping an 0-for-35 slump.

Koji Uehara had the day off, so Edward Mujica pitched the ninth. Skip Schumaker and Zack Cozart both singled to start the inning. But Ramon Santiago failed in three bunt attempts, striking out, Billy Hamilton flied to center, and Kris Negron grounded back to the box. And the Red Sox swept the two-game series.

Boston now travels back to Fenway for an 11-game homestand against the Astros, Angels, and Mariners.

Anthony Ranaudo / Mike Leake

Holt, 2B
Nava, RF
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Johnson, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Bradley, CF
Butler, C
Ranaudo, P

G118: Red Sox 3, Reds 2

Red Sox - 000 000 120 - 3  8  1
Reds    - 200 000 000 - 2  6  0

Brock Holt singled to start the top of the eighth inning against Cincinnati reliever Jonathan Broxton. After Dustin Pedroia lined to right and David Ortiz grounded to first, Broxton brushed back Yoenis Cespedes with his first pitch.

Cespedes crushed Broxton's next offering to dead center for a two-run home run, erasing the Reds' 2-1 lead. It was Cespedes's 19th tater of the season, and his second in a Red Sox uniform. He hit a three-run job on Sunday in Anaheim.

Elias reported his home run tonight was "the first time in his major-league career that Cespedes hit a home run that turned a deficit into a lead in the eighth inning or later".

Joe Kelly (6-5-2-3-4, 103) stole third base in the third inning. It was the first SB by a Red Sox pitcher since Bill Landis stole second against Cleveland on September 8, 1969. The last Red Sox pitcher to steal third base was Tom Brewer on July 30, 1959, also against Cleveland.

Joe Kelly / Mat Latos

Holt, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, 1B
Cespedes, LF
Nava, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Vazquez, C
Middlebrooks, 3B
Kelly, P

Anthony Ranaudo will start tomorrow night in Cincinnati instead of Brandon Workman, who has a 6.05 ERA in his last five starts. Ranaudo allowed two runs over six innings to the Yankees in his only major league game, back on August 1.

Book Review: The Devil's Snake Curve, By Josh Ostergaard

Coffee House Press, a small publisher in Minneapolis, Minnesota, states that Josh Ostergaard's The Devil's Snake Curve

"offers an alternative American history, in which colonialism, jingoism, capitalism, and faith are represented by baseball. Personal and political, it twines Japanese interment camps with the Yankees; Walmart and the Kansas City Royals; and facial hair with patterns of militarism, Guantanamo, and the modern security state."

With a description like that, how could I not love this book?

The Devil's Snake Curve shows the interconnected history of baseball and the United States in a social, political, and personal way that Ken Burns would not have dared to attempt. Ostergaard conveys the wonder of the national game while also shining a light into its darker corners, drawing connections between seemingly odd and disparate events. If I can fault Ostergaard for anything, it's that each nugget of information is often too short. I wanted more information, more unpacking of symbolism and meaning, more book.

Ostergaard writes that he is offering "one man's radically subjective American history", showing "the ways in which baseball has been represented in the U.S., and how these representations can be understood in the context of American history". He is examining "the seepage between the culture and the sport", using the language and history of baseball through which to convey his "deeper concerns about contemporary life". It's incredibly refreshing to read a history of the game from someone who, as the book's subtitle slyly notes, is coming from a leftist perspective.

This book is like a day at the ball park. Histories are the murmurs between innings. They are the pitches that make up a game. They careen off the wall and roll into dark corners. The game is played in fragments. Meanings accrue. Memories interrupt history.

The book is divided into five sections - Origins, Machines, War, Animals, Nationalism - and moves through the game's history roughly chronologically. All of us have been taught of the links in the national game, links between events, players, games - invisible threads that bind generations. Ostergaard shows how these myriad threads extend out beyond the game, into social and political events and trends. In his view, it is impossible to truly discuss the game's history without discussing the history of the United States in all its complicated forms, good and bad, virtuous and ugly.

Early in the 20th Century, facial hair - seen as a statement of individuality - was outlawed in the game, ushering in an era of professionalism and the supposed domestication of players. Owners regarded their teams as complex pieces of industrial machinery, and cast aside unproductive players as though they were broken or useless machine cogs. The players wearing Yankee pinstripes, for example, were expected to behave like widgets in Jacob Ruppert's factory. (Ostergaard says that Mark Rupert's Producing Hegemony: The Politics of Mass Production and American Global Power "influenced how I came to see the game".)

The New York Yankees and their dominance over the sport in the 20th Century is a constant theme throughout the book. Ostergaard grew up in Kansas, and harbours a special hatred for anyone wearing pinstripes ("We were bred to scorn the Yankees").

In Kansas City in the fifties, the worry had been that the A's existed solely to increase profits for the Yankees. Decades later, this is the same predatory relationship the average American shares with the 1 percent: we are hosts for parasites.

The theme of exploitation, especially of Native Americans, is strong. As a child, Ostergaard played in Arrowhead Park and Black Bob Park (named for a Native American who led a Shawnee revolt), and attended Indian Trail School. During a research trip to Cooperstown, he stays in a hotel called the Mohican. He notes a portion of Terry Mann's speech in "Field of Dreams" that is not often repeated: America has "been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again". And Ostergaard bluntly criticizes the management of the Cleveland Indians for "naming a team after a group of people subjected to organized repression, expulsion, and genocide".

A construction company owned by Del Webb received a government contract to build concentration camps near Parker, Arizona - camps that housed thousands of Japanese-Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. These camps were built on Native American land. The internment camps were finally closed during Webb's first season as co-owner of the New York Yankees. Webb called the camps the "greatest thing our company ever did". Time and again, he draws very clear parallels between the Yankees and the United States. "Anything they feared ... they pacified or acquired."

When Ostergaard mentions Allen Dulles and John Foster Dulles, the one-time director of the CIA and the Secretary of State, respectively, he writes plainly that the brothers "went about their task of making the world safe for capitalists". They had an "intense fear of a world in which foreign countries determined their own destiny, and the damage true autonomy could do to moneyed interested in the West".

Ostergaard gives numerous examples of how baseball pops up in unexpected places. He reminds us that numerous members of the bin Laden family were secretly escorted out of the United States two days after the 9/11 attacks and then notes that the previous passengers on one of the airplanes were the Baltimore Orioles. ... "A Study of Assassination", a once-secret U.S. government manual suggests that baseball bats can be used as a weapon: "blows should be directed to the temple".

Ostergaard refers to the United States as "a country that loves freedom but often demands uniformity". He quotes Noam Chomsky:

[Sports] occupies the population, and keeps them from trying to get involved with things that really matter. In fact, I presume that's part of the reason why spectator sports are supported to the degree they are by the dominant institutions. And spectator sports also have other useful functions,too. For one thing, they're a great way to build up chauvinism - you start by developing these totally irrational loyalties early in life, and they translate very nicely to other areas . . . [T]his sense of irrational loyalty to some sort of meaningless community is training for subordination to power ... this stuff is a major part of the whole indoctrination and propaganda system, and it's worth examining more closely.

Two snips about steroids:

In a bait-and-switch reminiscent of the way George W. Bush used terror alerts to distract the public from Iraq's nonexistent nuclear weapons, Selig used Jackie Robinson to turn fans' attention from steroids. This prefabricated self-righteousness failed to overshadow the steroid scandal ...

I was not disillusioned by athletes using steroids, because I never had an illusion of baseball's purity in the first place. ... I realized the steroid scandal was just another window into the problems of America: fake home run records, illusory weapons of mass destruction, economic bubbles hyped by Wall Street.

Speaking of "fake home run records", I do disagree with Ostergaard on one point. He writes that we have no idea how many home runs were hit by Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGuire. At the same time, Ostergaard gives exact HR numbers for Ken Griffey and Jim Thome. Ostergaard's categorization of these six players as either 100% clean or 100% dirty is not based on any evidence. And we absolutely know how many home runs those first four players hit: 762, 654, 609, and 583, respectively. Ostergaard can choose to believe some of those home runs were not "legitimate" (however he defines that term), but he cannot deny the fact that they were hit.

Early on, Ostergaard writes:

I used to think baseball was a game of certainties. The pitcher and batter did their gritty work, and the blurred ball thudded into the catcher's mitt or bounced off the right field fence. The official scorekeeper recorded precisely what happened. Every pitch was tabulated, digested, and put to use in understanding what might come next. ... The game was predictable, yet it birthed infinite stories about what happened in the past or could happen next. Even within these variations, it felt comforting to see the same pattern, game after game.

By the end of the book, he is not so sure of those certainties:

I have come to believe the history of baseball is a history of questions, and anecdotes and events that raise still more questions. Its boundaries have dissolved ...

There are few boundaries in The Devil's Snake Curve. Like a game of Six Degrees Of Separation, Ostergaard can connect just about any social or political event to baseball. For example, he somehow connects reliever Brian Wilson's chalupa commercial and Abu Ghraib.

The Devil's Snake Curve is a fascinating, enlightening book. I look forward to reading whatever Josh Ostergaard writes next, whether it is about baseball or anything else.

G117: Red Sox 3, Angels 1

Red Sox - 000 000 030 - 3  4  2
Angels  - 000 000 010 - 1  6  1

Yoenis Cespedes hit a three-run home run to snap a scoreless tie and Rubby De La Rosa (7-5-1-3-8, 110) pitched seven strong innings.

RDLR faced one batter in the eighth, going to a full count on Mike Trout before giving up a solo home run. Edward Mujica finished the eighth and Koji Uehara nailed down the ninth, striking out Josh Hamilton with a man on to end the game.

With one out in the eighth, Brock Holt reached on a fielding error. Dustin Pedroia singled and then Cespedes crushed a ball to to left. It was his first home run as a Red Sock.

Jackie Bradley went 0-for-4, with four strikeouts. He is now 0-for-his-last-35. ... Dan Butler went 0-for-3 with a walk in his MLB debut. ... Pedroia singled and doubled.

Rubby De La Rosa / Hector Santiago

Holt, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, DH
Johnson, 1B
Bogaerts, SS
Middlebrooks, 3B
Bradley, CF
Butler, C

Having used eight relief pitchers in last night's 19-inning marathon, the Red Sox need RDLR to go deep in today's game. He threw six innings against the Cardinals in his last start.

Catcher Dan Butler is scheduled to make his major league debut today. ... Jackie Bradley is mired in an 0-for-31 skid. ... Heath Hembree, who threw four shutout innings last night (his longest outing since his sophomore year in college!) was optioned to Pawtucket. ... Edwin Escobar was called up.

G116: Angels 5, Red Sox 4 (19)

Red Sox - 000 000 300 000 010 000 0 - 4  6  0
Angels  - 200 000 010 000 010 000 1 - 5 15  2

Albert Pujols homered off Brandon Workman to end the longest game in Angel Stadium history. The call was challenged and upheld. (It was also the longest game in MLB this season.)

Gordon Edes reported that it was also "the longest game ever played between the franchises. They played 16 innings in 1972 and in 1970, both in Anaheim, and the Angels won both. ... The game ended at 3:39 a.m. ET. ... The home run came on the 558th pitch of the night."

Those two 16-inning games:

May 11, 1970: California 2-1
July 8, 1972: California 4-3

***

It is 3:02 AM - middle of the 17th - and I am going to bed ...

Dustin Pedroia stole second and third on the same pitch with one out in the top of the 14th, before scoring on David Ortiz's sacrifice fly to left. Pedroia slid in safely at second base as shortstop Erick Aybar took the late throw. Then Pedroia noticed no one was covering third, so he popped up and sprinted for the hot corner. A startled Aybar could only hold the ball and watch Pedroia's brazen hustle.

In the bottom of the 14th, Junichi Tazawa gave up a leadoff double to pinch-hitter Chris Iannetta. Efren Navarro, another pinch-hitter, walked and Kole Calhoun's first-pitch single to left loaded the bases for the Angels' best hitters. Mike Trout grounded to shortstop. Bogaerts did not throw home; he flipped to Pedroia for the force. Pedroia threw to the plate, but it was too late as Iannetta scored the tying run. Albert Pujols - with runners at the corners - grounded out to third and Navarro had to hold. With Josh Hamilton (0-for-his-last-22) batting, Tazawa nearly threw a game-losing wild pitch, but his extremely high 0-2 offering was speared by a leaping Christian Vazquez. Tazawa came back to strike out Hamilton.

15th: Bogaerts walked with two outs, but Will Middlebrooks struck out swinging. Heath Hembree made his Red Sox debut (and 2014 debut) in the home half. Aybar singled to right, but Hembree got the next three hitters: Howie Kendrick struck out looking, C.J. Cron flied to center, and Iannetta grounded to third.

16th: Jason Grilli pitching for LA. Brock Holt singled to right with one out, but Pedroia struck out swinging and Ortiz grounded out to first. Hembree retired the Angels' 9-1-2 hitters in order.

17th: Matt Shoemaker is LA's 9th pitcher. Cespedes struck out swinging. Mike Napoli flied to left. Jackie Bradley grounds out to second, extending his current slump to 0-for-31.

The Red Sox did not get their first hit until the seventh inning. Pedroia started that rally, as well, with a single to center. Ortiz doubled him home. Ortiz took third on Yoenis Cespedes's single and scored on Aybar's error. After a second infield error, Xander Bogaerts's sac fly scored the inning's third run.

Clay Buchholz / Garrett Richards

Holt, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Nava, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Middlebrooks, 3B
Vazquez, C

Buchholz, the staff ace in experience if not performance, has allowed 22 runs in his last 22 innings (his last four starts). In those outings, he has allowed 31 hits and issued 13 walks.

G115: Red Sox 4, Angels 2

Red Sox - 003 010 000 - 4  8  1
Angels  - 002 000 000 - 2  6  0

Allen Webster / Jered Weaver

Holt, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Nava, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Middlebrooks, 3B
Vazquez, C

G114: Cardinals 5, Red Sox 2

Red Sox   - 002 000 000 - 2  8  0
Cardinals - 300 010 10x - 5  8  0

In his second start for the Oakland A's, former Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester tossed a complete-game three-hit shutout (9-3-0-2-8, 122). It was the 11th complete game of his career.

Brandon Workman/ Adam Wainwright

Holt, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, 1B
Cespedes, LF
Bogaerts, SS
Vazquez, C
Bradley, CF
Middlebrooks, 3B
Workman, P

G113: Red Sox 2, Cardinals 1

Red Sox   - 000 100 001 - 2  8  0
Cardinals - 100 000 000 - 1  5  0

Joe Kelly: 7-3-1-4-2, 97. Kelly is the first pitcher to go 7+ innings and allow three hits or less in his Red Sox debut since Hideo Nomo's no-hitter on April 4, 2001.

Xander Bogaerts: 2 RBI, double, sac fly.

Mike Napoli: 2 doubles.

The start of the game was delayed 63 minutes by rain .

Joe Kelly / Shelby Miller

Holt, 3B
Pedroia, 2B
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Nava, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Vazquez, C
Betts, CF
Kelly, P

G112: Cardinals 3, Red Sox 2

Red Sox   - 000 010 100 - 2  5  0
Cardinals - 000 100 11x - 3 10  1

Rubby De La Rosa / Lance Lynn

Holt, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, 1B
Cespedes, LF
Nava, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Vazquez, C
Middlebrooks, 3B
De La Rosa, P

Shane Victorino will have lower back surgery today in Los Angeles. Victorino played in only 30 games this season, hitting .268/.303/.382.

Roster moves: Allen Craig to the DL and Steven Wright back to Pawtucket. Right-handed reliever Heath Hembree and outfielder Corey Brown have been recalled from Pawtucket.

Top pitching prospect Henry Owens (6.2-2-0-3-9, 100) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning in his Pawtucket debut on Monday. ... Read more about Owens here.

The Red Sox have played nine regular-season games against the Cardinals, losing two of three in each of 2003, 2005, and 2008. Boston defeated St. Louis in the 2004 and 2013 World Series.

G111: Yankees 8, Red Sox 7

Yankees - 030 131 000 - 8 10  0
Red Sox - 320 200 000 - 7  8  0

The Red Sox blew leads of 3-0 and 7-4 and lost the rubber game of the series to the Yankees. Boston had zero hits over the final five innings.

Clay Buchholz (5-8-7-5-5, 114) allowed seven runs in five innings for the second consecutive start. He has allowed 22 runs in his last 22 innings (four starts).

The night began on a happy note as Boston forced David Phelps (2-6-5-2-0, 53) to throw 32 pitches in the first inning. Daniel Nava's two-run, bases-loaded single was the big blow. But Buchholz immediately gave the three runs back.

Dustin Pedroia (three runs scored) cracked a two-run homer over the Wall in the second and Ortiz went deep in the fourth, giving Boston another three-run advantage.

Again, Buchholz faltered. He retired the first two batters in the top of the fifth, but then the Yankees went double, walk, RBI double, 2-run single - and the game was tied.

Brett Gardner - who ended the night a triple short of the cycle - homered over the Red Sox bullpen off Craig Breslow, giving New York its first and only lead of the night.

The Red Sox managed only two walks after the fourth inning - and they were both by Christian Vazquez, who also singled twice. The rookie catcher walked with one out in the sixth and drew a base on balls to start the bottom of the ninth. (Esmil Rogers pitched three scoreless innings for New York after Phelps and Chase Whitley combined to throw 105 pitches over the first four innings.)

Mookie Betts pinch-ran for Vazquez in the ninth. After a pitchout, Betts took off on a 1-1 pitch to Brock Holt, who smoked the ball directly at third baseman Chase Headley, who had no problem doubling Betts off first. Pedroia got ahead 3-0 and ended up fouling off four pitches, including one to deep left, before grounding out to shortstop to end the game.

Stephen Drew drove in four runs for the Yankees. Gardner drove in three.

David Phelps / Clay Buchholz

Holt, 3B
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Nava, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Bradley, CF
Vazquez, C

An Hour With Pedro!

ESPN Radio:

Jonah Keri talks to Pedro Martinez about his career in baseball, the joys and challenges of being an athlete in Boston, and why part of his heart will always remain in Montreal.

G110: Yankees 6, Red Sox 4

Yankees - 004 010 100 - 6 10  0
Red Sox - 030 000 100 - 4  8  1

Shane Greene / Allen Webster

Holt, 3B
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Cespedes, LF
Napoli, 1B
Nava, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Bradley, CF
Vazquez, C

Alex Speier (WEEI) looks at The Path To 2015: Nine questions the Red Sox can answer over the next two months.

David Ross may have ruptured the plantar fascia in his right foot. If so, he will be placed on the disabled list, with Dan Butler likely being called up from Pawtucket.

Also: Jon Lester makes his A's debut in Oakland against the Royals at 4 PM. (And it's Yoenis Cespedes T-Shirt Day in Oakland! Really. Billy Beane: "I'm a marketing department's worst nightmare.")

G109: Red Sox 4, Yankees 3

Yankees - 000 101 010 - 3  6  0
Red Sox - 002 100 10x - 4  9  0

Anthony Ranaudo: 6-4-2-4-2, 91. He's the first Red Sox pitcher to win his MLB debut against the Yankees since Vaughn Eshleman, on May 2, 1995, and the first to do so in Fenway Park since Mike Garman, on September 22, 1969 (also a 4-3 Boston win).

Dustin Pedroia drove in two runs with a ground-rule double and a single.

Chris Capuano / Anthony Ranaudo

Holt, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Napoli, 1B
Craig, LF
Bogaerts, SS
Middlebrooks, 3B
Ross, C
Betts, CF

Anthony Ranaudo will be making his major league debut as the Red Sox host the Yankees for a three-game weekend series. Allen Webster and Clay Buchholz will start the next two games.

Conor Ryan, WEEI:

Taken by the Red Sox with the 39th pick of the 2010 draft after a stellar career at LSU, Ranaudo has overcome a series of setbacks and injuries on his way to posting one of the strongest seasons of his career in 2014.

Ranaudo has been on the top pitchers in the International League this season with Triple-A Pawtucket, leading the league in wins (12) while ranking second in ERA (2.41) and third in WHIP (1.15).

Ranaudo is in the midst of one of the strongest stretches of his career, as the 6-foot-7 righty has compiled an ERA of 1.94 since June, striking out 46 and walking 17.

Will Middlebrooks has been activated and will be playing third base, with Xander Bogaerts sliding back over to shortstop. ... Ben Cherington said that Allen Craig will be playing left field, with Yoenis Cespedes in right. ... The Red Sox have also called up left-handed reliever Tommy Layne.

Henry Owens, the Red Sox's top pitching prospect, was promoted to Pawtucket.