There had been enough false alarms before. So when Jarren Duran didn’t appear in the Red Sox lineup for Game 1 of the Worcester Red Sox doubleheader against the Scranton RailRiders Wednesday the usual whispers about a call-up seemed missing.

But midway through Game 1, the report trickled out — Duran is headed to the majors. According to reports, the outfield prospect is on his way to New York where the Red Sox will face the Yankees Thursday night in the Bronx.

Duran was hitting .270 with 15 home runs and 32 RBI with 12 stolen bases through 46 games for the WooSox.

The Red Sox will have to make some roster moves to accommodate him. They haven’t announced whether Marwin Gonzalez, who was injured Sunday, will go on the injured list or not, but it could be his roster spot that Duran is filling. They’ll also have to move somebody off their 40-man roster to add Duran.

Austin Brice was added to the 40-man roster last week when he was called up. He could be designated for assignment to clear the spot. But that would necessitate calling up another pitcher who is already on the 40-man roster.

There was speculation that Duran was about to be called up when he was left off the United States Olympic baseball team after playing well in qualifying. But USA Baseball said they didn’t want to risk losing him if the Red Sox called him up before Tokyo. Rumors popped up again when he was a late scratch from the lineup with back stiffness last week.

MLB Pipeline has Duran ranked as the No. 3 prospect in Boston’s system and the No. 86 overall prospect. The former seventh-round pick has raised his prospect status from year-to-year since being drafted in 2018.

Duran, who has played mostly center and right field in Triple-A, was the MVP award in the Puerto Rican Winter League playoffs in 2019 and slashed .400/.500/.640 at the Caribbean Series. Duran played for 82 games with the Sea Dogs in 2019 and hit .250 with one homer and 19 RBI and 28 steals.

From MLB’s scouting report entering the 2021 season:

“Duran’s best offensive tool is his plus-plus speed, which helps him routinely beat out grounders and makes him a dangerous base-stealing threat, as evidenced by his 70 swipes in 199 games during his first two pro seasons. Though he showed some ability to backspin the ball, scouts had concerns about how much impact he might have when he slugged just .325 in Double-A. But after he added some loft to his left-handed swing and started better incorporating his lower half at the plate at the alt site, some club officials believe he could produce 20 or more homers per season.”

Duran thrived at Polar Park hitting .313 (30 for 96) with a .400 on-base percentage, .708 slugging percentage, 1.108 OPS, 10 homers, six doubles, one triple, 19 runs and 23 RBI in 24 games. He is batting .226 (18 for 52) with a .330 on-base percentage, .409 slugging percentage, .739 OPS, five home runs, two doubles, 18 runs and nine RBI in 22 games on the road.

DODGERS: Trevor Bauer will not rejoin the Dodgers after the All-Star break.

Bauer’s leave from the Dodgers has been extended through July 27, under an agreement between Major League Baseball and the players’ union.

Bauer last pitched for the Dodgers on June 28, one day before a woman accused him of sexual assault and obtained a temporary restraining order against him. The league put him on paid administrative leave July 2, and this marks the second extension of that leave.

This extension carries beyond July 23, when Bauer and his accuser are set for a Los Angeles Superior Court hearing in which a judge will consider whether to keep the restraining order in force.

The Pasadena police department continues to investigate Bauer for felony assault, and the Los Angeles County district attorney has made no decision whether to file criminal charges against him. He has not been arrested.

MLB is conducting a separate investigation. The league has not met with the woman making the allegations.

If the July 23 hearing takes place — Bauer can ask for a delay — MLB’s investigation could be informed by whatever information emerges from the hearing. However, legal experts have told The Los Angeles Times that Bauer might not risk testifying at the hearing if a decision about whether to charge him has not been made, because any of his testimony in a hearing about the restraining order could be used against him in a potential criminal case.

The agreement between the league and the union mitigates some risk for both parties. Bauer continues to receive his salary on leave, about $4 million for the 26 days to which both sides have agreed so far.

If the union had declined to extend the leave, Commissioner Rob Manfred could have suspended Bauer based on whatever evidence the league had obtained to this point. The suspension would have been unpaid, so Bauer could have lost millions, and the league would have risked the possibility that the suspension would have ended as more incriminating information emerged, with MLB at that point unable to suspend him twice for the same offense.

The woman alleged he had choked her unconscious in two sexual encounters, on April 22 and May 16, and injured her face during the second one. The woman obtained a temporary restraining order against him on June 29, providing the court with a hospital examination report in which she had been diagnosed as having suffered “assault by manual strangulation” and “acute head injury.”

Representatives of Bauer have said that the pitcher “vehemently denies her account of the two meetings” and that the encounters were “wholly consensual.”

Bauer, 30, played at Hart High in Santa Clarita and UCLA. The Dodgers signed him to a three-year, $102 million free-agent contract in February. Since MLB placed Bauer on leave, the team has canceled a scheduled Bauer bobblehead promotion and withdrawn his jerseys from sale.

ANGELS: The Los Angeles Angels signed veteran outfielder Adam Eaton two days after he was released by the Chicago White Sox.

The Angels designated left-hander Dillon Peters for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

The White Sox designated Eaton for assignment July 7 after he batted .201 with five homers and 28 RBI in 58 games during his return season with Chicago. After a strong start to the year, his production slumped badly from mid-April onward.

Eaton will provide immediate depth in the Angels’ injury-plagued outfield. Left fielder Justin Upton has been out since June 22 with a lower back injury, and three-time AL MVP center fielder Mike Trout has been out for two months with a left calf injury. Both should return relatively soon, but their injuries have been slow to heal, preventing them from even starting a rehab assignment before the All-Star break.

BLUE JAYS: The Toronto Blue Jays won’t find out by this weekend whether they will get permission from the federal government to play in Canada soon, a government official familiar with the talks told The Associated Press.

A team spokeswoman said the club continues to work with the federal government toward playing games at Rogers Centre starting July 30, and expected to receive a response by Friday.

But the government official familiar with the talks said the Blue Jays will not learn whether they will get to play in Toronto by the weekend. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because no one has been authorized to discuss the talks publicly.

The U.S.-Canada border remains closed to nonessential travel. Major League Baseball will require an exemption for vaccinated and non vaccinated players and team staff to play games in Canada.

Another official familiar with the talks reiterated the team is expecting an answer Friday based on conversations with the government and said that is the club’s breaking point time wise. The official noted the team has a long homestand starting July 30 that represents over 25% of the remaining games at a crucial juncture competitively. The Blue Jays are tied for third in American League East standings.

A third official, who spoke on background as they were also not authorized to speak publicly, said it would be preferable to have lead time in order to move what the club needs from Buffalo and prepare for Toronto operations, including ticket sales, although they’ve begun preparations at Rogers Centre in Toronto already.

If the Blue Jays are not given an exemption for the 10-game homestand that begins July 30 the next homestand begins Aug. 20. Approval could come amid a federal election that’s widely expected to be called next month. Providing exemptions for travel into Canada is politically sensitive. Nonessential fully vaccinated Americans and foreigners remain barred from entering Canada as the government works to get a high percentage of Canadians fully vaccinated by the end of July.

The Blue Jays played home games during the shortened 2020 season in Buffalo and started this season in Dunedin, Florida, before moving to Buffalo. The Canadian government didn’t allow the team to play at home in Toronto because of the risk of spreading COVID-19, citing frequent travel required in the U.S. during a baseball season.

Toronto last played at 49,000-capacity Rogers Centre on Sept. 29, 2019, an 8-3 win over Tampa Bay.

Blue Jays ace Hyun-Jin Ryu signed with the team before the 2020 season and has yet to pitch a game in Toronto.

The team noted in a release this week that Major League Baseball has high vaccination rates, with more than 85% of players and personnel fully vaccinated. The club said vaccinated players and staff on the home and visiting teams will have to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test with no quarantine requirement; and that fully vaccinated individuals will also undergo weekly testing.

The team said unvaccinated and partially vaccinated individuals on the home and visiting teams will adhere to a modified quarantine for their first 14 days in Canada. They will be permitted to leave their residence only to participate in baseball activities at Rogers Centre.

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