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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Sure, Jarrod Saltalamacchia is impressed with Koji Uehara. Who isn't?

The Sox closer has retired the last 31 batters he has faced -- the equivalent of a perfect game plus four batters -- and has not allowed a run in his last 28 1/3 innings. That's the longest single-season streak for a Sox reliever since the Monster, Dick Radatz, had a 33-inning streak from May 13 to June 14, 1963.

The Japanese word for monster, incidentally, is "kaibutsu," a nickname that Daisuke Matsuzaka was given in Japan but was something he didn't quite live up to in his tenure with the Sox. Certainly, Uehara has a more legitimate claim to it here, based on his body of work.

But Saltalamacchia and fellow catcher David Ross want more, and have let Uehara know.

"As far as I'm concerned, he owes me and Rossie a Rolex," Saltalamacchia said Tuesday night. "Complete-game no-hitter, now he's working on another no-hitter. At some point, he's got to get us something."

Had Saltalamacchia conveyed that demand to Uehara?

"It's been two weeks now we've been on him," Saltalamacchia said. "Rossie has been on him. So, we told him tomorrow we had to have something."

Well, tomorrow arrived, so we took a pass by Saltalamacchia. Anything? "No," he said. "Rossie yelled at him."

And what does the pitcher think of his catchers' extortion attempt?

"I want something," he said with a laugh. "Not them. I want something."

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Red Sox first baseman Mike Carp knew all about the hoohah that erupted Monday night in Baltimore, after the Yankees accused Orioles third-base coach Bobby Dickerson of stealing signs, leading to a heated confrontation between Baltimore manager Buck Showalter and New York manager Joe Girardi.

"They did the same thing to me the day before," said Carp, who played first base for the Sox on Sunday afternoon in the Bronx, where the Sox lost 4-3 to the Yankees.

Carp could be seen barking back and forth with the Yankees' dugout early in the game, and he said Wednesday that they were accusing him of stealing signs.

"Pretty much their whole dugout," Carp said when asked who was making the accusation. "But it was their pitching coach [Larry Rothschild], I think, who came to the top step."

Carp laughed at the suggestion that he was guilty as charged.

"I'm not even an every-day player," he said. "I wasn't stealing signs. I couldn't take that from them."

Every day between now and the end of the regular season, we'll check in on where things stand in the playoff race.

• Red Sox record: 88-58.

• Games left: 16

• Lead in AL East: 8½ games over Tampa Bay (78-65)

• Magic number to win division: 10

• What does magic number mean? If Tampa Bay wins all 19 of its remaining games, Boston would have to win 10 to win the division.

• How to calculate magic number: You calculate your magic number by looking at the number of games remaining in the season and assuming that your nearest competitor will win all of their remaining games. Then you see how many games you still need to win to ensure the division title even with your nearest competitor winning all of their remaining games.

• Overall ranking in league (important for determining home field in playoffs): First, 4 games ahead of Oakland, 4 ½ games ahead of Detroit.

• If season ended today, teams in playoffs: Sox, Tigers, Athletics, Rangers, Rays.

• What about the Yankees? Rallied to beat the Orioles, 7-5, to pull within two games of Rays in wild-card race. The injuries continue to mount: reliever Boone Logan has a bad elbow, starter Ivan Nova has a triceps muscle issue, Alex Rodriguez came out of the game with a tight hamstring, and the Yanks acquired shortstop Brendan Ryan in case Derek Jeter doesn’t return. But the Yanks hang in there. “It’s nothing new,” Mariano Rivera told Joel Sherman of the New York Post. “We have been in this situation all year. We will have to find a way to get it done. We will find a way. Someone will step in, someone will step up.”

• Who’s hot?: The Royals kept their long-shot postseason hopes alive by beating the Indians, one night after squandering a ninth-inning lead to the Tribe. Reliever Luke Hochevar stranded two runners by striking out two in the seventh, and then struck out the side in the eighth inning while lowering his ERA to 1.70. Hochevar has allowed just 2 hits while striking out 17 and walking none in his last 10 2/3 innings, spanning 8 appearances.

• Who’s not?: The Rangers have lost 8 of their last 11 games, and T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com notes that MVP candidate Adrian Beltre has just 2 hits in his last 24 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

• Red Sox latest outcome: Beat the Rays, 2-0, on Tuesday.

• Rays latest outcome: Lost to the Red Sox, 2-0, on Tuesday.

• Notable: The Rays, who were percentage points ahead of the Sox on Aug. 24, have scored just 41 runs, an average of 2.6 a game, while losing 12 of 16 since then. They have just 9 home runs in that span. The Sox, by contrast, have scored 110 runs, an average of 6.9 per game, and are 13-3 in that span.

• Playoff format: AL wild-card play-in game on Wednesday, Oct. 2. AL best-of-five division series begins Friday, Oct. 4.

The Boston Red Sox will honor Carl Yastrzemski with a statue of the Hall of Fame outfielder at Fenway Park, the team announced Wednesday.

The statue will be unveiled at Fenway on Sept. 22 at 11 a.m. in a pregame ceremony before the Red Sox take on the Blue Jays. It captures the moment (pictured above) on Oct. 2, 1983 when Yaz tipped his helmet to the Fenway crowd before the final at-bat of his career.

“This is quite an honor,” said the 74-year-old Yastrzemski. “To have a bronze statue at Fenway Park is something I never could have imagined, and I am very grateful to the Red Sox for this kind gesture.”

The statue will be located outside the park’s Gate B entrance and will be placed in between a statue of Ted Williams and one of “The Teammates,” which depicts Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr, and Williams. Toby Mendez, who also created “The Teammates” statue, is the sculptor for Yaz’s statue.

Yaz spent all 23 years of his major league career with the Red Sox and retired having played the most games (3,308) of any player in major league history to that point. He was an 18-time All-Star, seven-time Gold Glove winner and won the Triple Crown in 1967 in leading the Impossible Dream Red Sox to the World Series.

The "Baseball Tonight" crew previews Wednesday night's Sox-Rays matchup (ESPN, 7 ET).

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- For anyone who believes that Jacoby Ellsbury’s fractured bone in his right foot might have a chilling effect on his market value going forward, you don’t have to look far for an example that puts that quaint notion to rest.

Less than two months ago, Dustin Pedroia signed an eight-year, $110 million contract extension three years after he fractured the same bone in his left foot so badly he only played 75 games and needed surgery and the insertion of a screw.

Ellsbury’s injury, by comparison, is a scratch. He chipped a bit off the top of the bone, won’t need any kind of surgical procedure and should be back in the lineup within a couple of weeks. If the Sox's playoff position was in jeopardy, chances are pretty good Ellsbury would still be playing. He played seven games after fouling the ball off his foot Aug. 28, which also should allay some of the sniping about his willingness to play hurt.

The Sox, though, see the upside in allowing the major leagues’ leading base stealer to rest a bit, figuring their postseason chances are enhanced by having a healed Ellsbury at the top of the order in October, rather than having him favoring his foot.

So it looks like a win-win for both Ellsbury and the Sox. He doesn’t have to go into his free-agent winter with renewed whispers about his supposed brittleness, engendered by two previous long stints on the disabled list. The Sox, meanwhile, get the benefit of having one of their best players at full strength, a guy who left a spectacular mark on his first October, posting a .438/.500/.688/1.188 slash line when the Sox swept the Rockies in the 2007 World Series.

Ellsbury’s agent, Scott Boras, has a name for the injuries that Ellsbury sustained -- fractured ribs when he collided with Adrian Beltre, partially dislocated shoulder when Reid Brignac fell on it -- and now the small navicular fracture. Boras calls them “impact” injuries. He likes that better than Jonny Gomes’ term, “car wreck,” which makes Boras shudder a bit. For him, that implies lasting damage.

When it comes to impact injuries that occur to elite players, teams have shown little fear of plunging ahead and signing those players to lucrative long-term deals, Boras says. There is Pedroia, of course, but Boras gladly will rattle off other names. Outfielder Magglio Ordonez tore up his knee in a collision with second baseman Willie Harris, spent two stints on the DL and required two surgeries, but that winter he signed a five-year, $85 million contract with the Tigers, at the time the second-largest contract Detroit had ever given a player.

Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was hit by a pitch that fractured his wrist in 2010, but that didn’t keep the Rockies from giving him a 10-year, $157.75 million contract extension that winter.

Giants catcher Buster Posey sustained a horrific knee injury in a home-plate collision that some initially thought might be career-threatening. He missed 114 games and had surgery in 2011, but at the start of this season he signed a nine-year, $167 million extension.

Rays third baseman Evan Longoria missed 85 games in 2012 after partially tearing his hamstring during a slide into second base, yet the Rays gave him a six-year, $100 million contract extension days after he underwent surgery to “clean up” the hamstring.

“Teams do not let impact injuries detract them from signing elite players at premium positions,’’ Boras said in a phone conversation Tuesday.

Jose Reyes is a guy whose injuries are not of the “impact” variety -- hamstring and abdominal strains in the previous two years before he became a free agent -- and that didn’t keep the Marlins from signing him to a six-year, $106 million deal prior to the 2012 season, or keep the Jays from trading for him a year later.

“So let’s stop the conjecture,’’ Boras said, “and let’s deal with the reality.’’

The reality is Ellsbury will get his money. He might even get it from the Red Sox, although the Sox will have to be prepared to offer him more years and more money than they gave Pedroia. Ellsbury, who turns 30 on Wednesday, is one year older than Matt Kemp, who signed an eight-year, $160 million deal with the Dodgers and can be said, like Ellsbury, to have had just one monster year.

That’s the neighborhood in which Boras can expect to place Ellsbury. A little bone break won’t alter that.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The in-game reviews followed a similar theme.

“A little nervous."

“So far, so good."

“Relaxing into it."

“Just had to find his rhythm."

“Got over his initial jitters and is doing a great job."

Clay Buchholz?

No, those were tweeters commenting on the broadcasting debut of former Red Sox pitcher Derek Lowe, who served as color commentator on NESN’s telecast of the Rays-Red Sox game Tuesday night.

Lowe had a few more rough spots in the booth than Buchholz had on the mound, where he returned after a 94-day absence with a flourish, pitching five scoreless innings in a 2-0 win over the reeling Tampa Bay Rays.

Buchholz allowed only three singles and a walk and struck out six while throwing 74 pitches, near the limit manager John Farrell had projected for him before the game.

His fastball topped out at 93, he got swings and misses on both his changeup and curve, and looked very much at home while dueling Rays ace David Price, who threw a career-high 127 pitches in a vain bid to win a game the Rays needed to keep alive any hope of catching the Sox in the division race.

The Rays still are holding on to the second wild-card spot and didn’t lose any ground to their closest pursuers, the Orioles and Indians, who both lost to remain 1 ½ games behind Tampa Bay, with the Yankees closing to within two games.

Price was brilliant, allowing just three hits, walking no one and striking out nine. He set down the first 12 in order until Mike Napoli doubled off the glove of leaping center fielder Desmond Jennings at the wall to open the fifth. Jonny Gomes, who has remained close friends with Price since their days of playing together, then bounced a single up the middle, Napoli beating a dreadful throw from Jennings to score.

The hit was Gomes’ first in 10 at-bats against Price this season. He took second on the throw, went to third on a bunt by Daniel Nava and scored on Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s deep drive to center, this time Jennings coming down with the ball after his leap at the wall.

Craig Breslow gave the Sox two scoreless innings in relief of Buchholz before giving way to Junichi Tazawa, who gave up a two-out double to Yunel Escobar.

Farrell went to the bullpen again, summoning Koji Uehara, who retired Wil Myers on a foul pop to first to end the inning, then carved up the Rays in the ninth, striking out Evan Longoria and Matt Joyce to end it.

Uehara’s scoreless streak is now 28 1/3 innings. Buchholz, meanwhile, is now 10-0, with a 1.61 ERA.

And the Sox's magic number is 10 to win the AL East for their first division title since 2007, which is also the last time they won the World Series. With 16 games to play, they’re 30 games over .500, and their lead over the Rays is back to 8 ½ games -- and ’07 is the only other season since 1995 that the Sox have had that big of a lead.

On Aug. 24, the Rays were percentage points ahead of the Sox. Since then, they are a major league-worst 4-12, while the Sox are a big league-best 12-3.

Red Sox outfielder Jonny Gomes has cheated death twice. In this episode of "E:60", he tells Chris Connelly why he never forgets how lucky he is just to wake up each morning.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Agent Scott Boras reiterated Tuesday that Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury should return before the end of the regular season and be healthy for the playoffs should the team, as expected, qualify for the postseason.

While Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia both sustained fractrures of the navicular bone, the severity of the injuries are not comparable. Ellsbury’s fracture amounts almost to a small chip on the surface of the bone in his right foot, while Pedroia’s entailed a fracture that went much deeper into the bone and ultimately required surgery and the insertion of a screw.

No medical procedure will be required to treat Ellsbury’s fracture, Boras said by telephone. It will heal on its own, he said. Ellsbury is in a walking boot now, and next will be placed in a very stiff shoe, likely with a titanium component.

The primary issue Ellsbury is dealing with is the swelling around the fracture, and the discomfort that causes. He played through it for seven games, but after the Red Sox played a 4 ½-hour game against the Yankees last Thursday, one in which Ellsbury singled in the 10th inning, stole second and scored the winning run, the decision was made for him to return to Boston for an MRI.

The Sox medical staff detected the fracture, their findings confirmed when Ellsbury went to Denver and was examined Sunday by foot specialist Dr. Tom Clanton of the Steadman Clinic. Ellsbury then returned to Boston.

Once the swelling and discomfort fully subside, Ellsbury will begin hitting in the batting cage, and may DH a game or two before returning to the field. The timing will depend on how Ellsbury feels, which is why the fact that he already played on it for seven games underscores the high probability of his return before the end of the season. Twelve to 15 days out is a reasonable expectation for Ellsbury’s return, which would give him a chance to regain his timing at the plate before the playoffs begin.

Shane Victorino was playing center field in Ellsbury's absence Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays, while Dustin Pedroia was batting leadoff for the first time this season and for the first time since 2009. Manager John Farrell said he is likely to keep Pedroia in the leadoff spot until Ellsbury comes back.

"In Jacoby's absence, we felt like we needed a guy who would see a lot of pitches," Farrell said "I think it might help Shane in the 2-hole to see how pitchers are going to attack a right-handed hitter. It also gives us an opportunity to get David [Ortiz] to the plate in the first inning."

Ortiz is batting third, which has been Pedroia's spot.

"There were a number of things that went into Pedey in that leadoff spot, and I like the way Vic has responded in the 2-hole. Nothing against what Shane has done. I think he's been one of our best hitters the last month or more. I felt it was a chance to get our top four, five hitters in the top half of the lineup."

Farrell talked to Pedroia about the switch before it was made.

"The one thing we've worked hard at is maintaining some continuity," Farrell said, "and if this is one that will give us that continuity until Jacoby returns, we're certainly willing to stay the course."

This is the 111th batting order Farrell has used this season. Victorino hit leadoff in the first two games Ellsbury missed and went 4-for-9 with a double and home run, and scored four runs.

Major League Baseball unveiled its 2014 schedule on Tuesday, a slate that has the Boston Red Sox opening the season on March 31 in Baltimore.

Among the other highlights (click HERE for the full schedule):

* After the three games in Baltimore (March 31, April 2-3), the Red Sox return home and open with an interleague series against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 4. That opening homestand includes a series against the Texas Rangers.

* Theo Epstein and the Chicago Cubs visit Fenway for a three-game series June 30-July 2.

* The Patriots Day opponent will be the Orioles, who will be in town over the weekend for a four-game series April 18-21.

* The Sox will finish the regular season at home with a three-game series Sept. 26-28 against the Yankees, preceded by three games at home against the Tampa Bay Rays Sept. 23-25.

* The Yankees, who did not visit Boston for the first time this season until after the All-Star break, will make an April visit next season, a three-game set April 22-24. They will be in Boston for another three games Aug. 1-3.

* The Sox will be playing NL Central opponents in interleague play, in addition to a home-and-home series against the Braves: two games in Atlanta May 26-27 followed by two games in Fenway May 28-29.

* The Reds come to Fenway Park for two games May 6 and 7. The Sox play the Cardinals in St. Louis Aug. 5-7, the Reds in Cincinnati Aug. 12-13, and the Pirates in Pittsburgh Sept. 16-18.

ESPNBoston.com obtained a preliminary version of the schedule earlier this summer.

Every day between now and the end of the regular season, we'll check in on where things stand in the playoff race.

• Red Sox record: 87-58.

• Games left: 17

• Lead in AL East: 7½ games over Tampa Bay (78-64)

• Magic number to win division: 12

• What does magic number mean? If Tampa Bay wins all 20 of its remaining games, Boston would have to win 12 to win the division.

• How to calculate magic number: You calculate your magic number by looking at the number of games remaining in the season and assuming that your nearest competitor will win all of their remaining games. Then you see how many games you still need to win to ensure the division title even with your nearest competitor winning all of their remaining games.

• Overall ranking in league (important for determining home field in playoffs): First, 3 games ahead of Oakland, 4 ½ games ahead of Detroit, 5 games ahead of Texas

• If season ended today, teams in playoffs: Sox, Tigers, Athletics, Rangers, Rays.

• What about the Yankees? Lost the opener of a four-game series with the Orioles, 4-2, to fall 3 games behind the Rays for the final wild-card spot. Yanks have lost 4 of last 5.

• Who’s hot?: Brandon Moss, who played briefly with the Red Sox in 2008 before going to the Pirates in the deal in which the Sox shed Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers and acquired Jason Bay from the Pirates, is batting .339 with 8 home runs and 19 RBIs over his last 20 games. The A’s are 13-7 in that stretch. Moss, who is platooned, has 26 home runs in just 400 at-bats. "We liked him going back to his days in Boston," A’s GM Billy Beane told MLB.com. "He incorporated some of the things we like in our players. With Boston, he was playing in a pretty talent-stacked organization, then he hopped and bounced around and got brief looks, and I think, if anything, we were sort of committed to giving the guy an opportunity based on his numbers."

• Who’s not?: The Tigers have lost five of their last six, with four of those losses coming against left-handed starters, including Jon Lester. Miggy Cabrera and manager Jim Leyland were ejected in the first inning of Monday’s 5-1 loss to Chris Sales and the White Sox after Cabrera was hit by a pitch that was called a strike because he was unable to check his swing.

• Red Sox latest outcome: Lost to the Yankees, 4-3, on Sunday.

• Rays latest outcome: Beat the Mariners, 4-1, on Sunday.

• Notable: Orioles manager Buck Showalter charged out of the dugout Monday in the first inning to confront Yankees manager Joe Girardi, believing that Girardi had accused Orioles third-base coach Bobby Dickerson of stealing signs. “He was yelling at the third base coach. If somebody’s wearing black and orange, I’m not going to let that happen," Showalter said. “I’ve known Bobby for a long time and when Nicky [Markakis] came across the plate he said that they were yelling out of the dugout at Bobby for some reason and I know Bobby Dickerson pretty well, so I knew that Bobby would have something to say on his way back to the dugout, and he did.” Said Girardi: I am going to protect my players. It was something I saw and I am going to leave it at that."

• Playoff format: AL wild-card play-in game on Wednesday, Oct. 2. AL best-of-five division series begins Friday, Oct. 4.

Tune in to E:60 on ESPN2 on Tuesday at 8 p.m. for Red Sox outfielder Jonny Gomes' tale of survival. Watch a preview above.

"I wasn't supposed to be in the big leagues," Gomes tells E:60. "I wasn't supposed to be in a big league uniform. And I wasn't supposed to be alive."

Infielders Will Middlebrooks and Mike Napoli were named American League co-Players of the Week on Monday, the second time a pair of Boston Red Sox players shared the award this season.

The third baseman Middlebrooks was 13 for 28 (.464) with a .500 on-base percentage, four homers, nine RBIs and eight runs scored over the past seven games, leading all hitters with 26 total bases over that span. First baseman Napoli led all hitters in batting average (.467), on-base percentage (.577) and slugging percentage (1.143) over the past seven games. Matching Middlebrooks, Napoli too had four homers and nine RBIs over that span. Both had grand slams.

Over that seven-game span, the Red Sox went 5-2 and scored 56 runs, an average of 8 runs per game. They scored in double digits three times, including a 20-run outburst against the Tigers. They currently have the best record in baseball at 87-58 and on Monday jumped two spots to take over No. 1 on ESPN.com’s baseball power rankings.

The last Sox teammates to share the player of the week honors were Napoli and reliever Andrew Bailey, who accomplished the feat in April.

For the 25-year-old Middlebrooks (whose birthday, coincidentally, is Monday), the resurgence continues his hot streak since being called up from Triple-A Pawtucket in early August. In 26 games since returning to the big club, Middlebrooks is hitting .368 with a 1.055 OPS, six homers and 16 RBIs. Earlier in the season, Middlebrooks was sent to Pawtucket in June after starting the season with a .192 average and 60 strikeouts in 53 games.

The 31-year-old Napoli has rediscovered his power stroke after a rough stretch. In 27 games between July 26-Aug. 31, the first baseman hit just .188 with 38 strikeouts.

Every day between now and the end of the regular season, we'll check in on where things stand in the playoff race.

• Red Sox record: 87-58

• Games left: 17

• Lead in AL East: 7½ games over Tampa Bay (78-64)

• Magic number to win division: 12

• What does magic number mean? If Tampa Bay wins all 20 of its remaining games, Boston would have to win 12 to win the division.

• How to calculate magic number: You calculate your magic number by looking at the number of games remaining in the season and assuming that your nearest competitor will win all of their remaining games. Then you see how many games you still need to win to ensure the division title even with your nearest competitor winning all of their remaining games.

• Overall ranking in league (important for determining home field in playoffs): First, 3 games ahead of Oakland, 4 games ahead of Detroit

• If season ended today, teams in playoffs: Sox, Tigers, Athletics, Rangers, Rays.

• What about the Yankees? Salvaged the final game of a four-game series against the Red Sox with a 4-3 win. They remain 2½ games behind the Rays for final wild-card spot.

• Who’s hot?: Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks has five straight multi-hit games, the first time in his career he’s done that. He’s batting .500 (11 for 22) in that stretch, with 4 home runs, 8 runs, and 7 RBIs.

• Who’s not?: The Indians fell two games behind the Rays in the wild-card race when they were beaten, 2-1, by Daisuke Matsuzaka, who was agonizing for Terry Francona to watch in his last years in Boston and really tormented him Sunday. Matsuzaka, who had begun the season with the Indians, had lost his first three starts for the Mets, posting a 10.95 ERA. Against the Indians, he allowed one run on three hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked three on 103 pitches.

• Red Sox latest outcome: Lost to the Yankees, 4-3, on Sunday.

• Rays latest outcome: Beat the Mariners, 4-1, on Sunday.

• Notable: The Yankees, who don’t expect to have shortstop Derek Jeter for at least a couple of days as his bad ankle flared up again, begin a four-game series Monday night with the Orioles, who are two games behind the Rays in the wild-card race. CC Sabathia faces Chris Tillman in the series opener Monday night. The Yanks then come to Boston on Friday, so this week will be critical to their fading wild-card chances.

• Playoff format: AL wild-card play-in game on Wednesday, Oct. 2. AL best-of-five division series begins Friday, Oct. 4.

NEW YORK – Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury has a compression fracture of the navicular bone in his right foot, but manager John Farrell insisted Sunday that Ellsbury likely will return to playing before the end of the regular season.

The fracture is nondisplaced, Farrell said, and Ellsbury will be in a boot for a minimum of five days. Ellsbury was examined in Denver on Sunday by Dr. Tom Clanton of the Steadman Clinic, and will return to Boston.

Dustin Pedroia had a nondisplaced fracture of the same bone in 2010, wound up returning for just two games, and had offseason surgery, limiting him to 75 games that season. In 2012, Cody Ross fractrured the same bone in his left foot and missed 27 games.

All three players -- Ellsbury, Pedroia, Ross -- were injured the same way, fouling a ball off their foot.

The injury initially occurred in the seventh inning of the Aug. 28 game against the Orioles, when Ellsbury fouled a pitch off the top of his right foot, just below the shin guard. He remained in the game, beat out an infield hit, stole second and came around to score the game-tying run on a base hit by Pedroia.

Ellsbury did not take the field the next inning, but played in the next five games before sitting out last Tuesday's game against the Tigers because of a swollen left thumb. He then started the next two games before aggravating the foot injury Thursday night when he stole second base in the 10th inning of Boston's 9-8 win over the New York Yankees and did not respond to treatment Friday, according to Farrell.

Ellsbury returned to Boston and underwent an MRI on Saturday morning before heading to Denver on Sunday.

Ellsbury, who leads the majors with 52 stolen bases, was batting .299 with a .355 on-base percentage. The speedster was batting .320 (24 for 75) in his last 17 games, with eight stolen bases in that span.