Thursday, June 20, 2013
Greetings from Fenway. As expected, the Red Sox put catcher Victor Martinez on the disabled list with a broken thumb. Boston brought up Gustavo Molina from Pawtucket as a back-up. Boston has only 11 games over the next 16 days because of the All-Star break so it is likely that Jason Varitek will get nearly all of the starts (except when Tim Wakefield pitches).
Expect Martinez back on July 15 (the first game after the break).
As for Molina, 28, he was signed last January to give Boston depth, which did not make sense at the time since the Sox already had two good catchers in Pawtucket, with Mark Wagner and Dusty Brown. But Wagner is on the disabled list with a broken hamate bone, while Brown went on the DL last week with a sprained thumb.
I don't know when those two will be ready, but it's not this week, so Molina gets the call. This is his 11th pro season and he has 19 games of major league experience with the White Sox and Orioles (2007) and Mets (2008).
The Sox also added Eric Patterson to the major league roster. An infielder and outfielder, Patterson was obtained from Oakland in exchange for Class A pitcher Fabian Williams.
Sox manager Terry Francona also announced that infielder Jed Lowrie (mononucleosis) will begin a rehab assignment in Lowell on Saturday.
Here is tonight's Sox lineup: Scutaro SS; Nava LF; Ortiz DH; Youkilis 1B; Drew RF; Beltre 3B; Varitek C; Hall 2B; Mike Cameron CF; (Lackey P).
In Sea Dogs news, three players were named to the East team for the Eastern League All-Star Game - infielder Nate Spears and Ray Chang and pitcher Stephen Fife. Portland had some other All-Star caliber players - first baseman Lars Anderson, outfielder Ryan Kalish, and shortstop Jose Iglesias - but the latter is injured, and the former two have been promoted.
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Kevin Thomas covers baseball and basketball for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. He wisely moved to Maine in 1994 after working for the St. Petersburg Times. He is married to Nancy and they have nine children.
Follow his thoughts on the Boston Red Sox and Portland Sea Dogs on Clearing the Bases
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