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BOSTON -- One day after clinching the American League East division title, Red Sox manager John Farrell's lineup for Saturday's game against Toronto featured several significant changes.

Most notable was usual third baseman Will Middlebrooks penciled in to play first base, his first professional game at the position.

"Will has worked out at first base in early work at periodic times during the year," Farrell said. "He's a good athlete and we feel like he shouldn't be a fish out of water in this."

Farrell alluded to several other factors going into the decision, including Middlebrooks' strong career numbers (6-for-13) against Mark Buehrle, Toronto's Saturday starter. The move also gives Farrell a chance to see how Middlebrooks handles the position, something that could give the manager another option if a pinch running situation arises for primary first baseman Mike Napoli in the postseason.

"Anytime you move to a different position, it's going to take some repetition. Still, you're on a corner so there's similar reaction time that's going to be required there," Farrell explained. "But again, he's an infielder. That's required to do some things reactionary and that's going to be the same at first base."

Before taking batting practice, Middlebrooks spoke excitedly about the opportunity.

"I'll have fun with it. It's the best way to learn," he said before being surprised by his parents, Tom and Julie Middlebrooks, on the field (mom sporting a new hair style that Middlebrooks said led him to not recognize her initially).

In addition to Middlebrooks at first, shortstop Stephen Drew will bat leadoff for the first time this season. Outfielder Shane Victorino returned to the starting lineup batting second after appearing in Friday's division-clinching win as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning. Victorino missed two starts after exiting Wednesday night's game against the Baltimore Orioles with a jammed right thumb.

Dustin Pedroia, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Napoli were given the day off, while infielder John McDonald will make his first start for the Red Sox.

Here's the complete lineup for Saturday night's contest:

1. Stephen Drew, SS
2. Shane Victorino, CF
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Jonny Gomes, LF
5. Daniel Nava, RF
6. Will Middlebrooks 1B
7. Xander Bogaerts, 3B
8. David Ross, C
9. John McDonald, 2B
RHP -- Clay Buchholz

* Farrell said that right-hander John Lackey is expected to pitch out of the bullpen for an inning in Tuesday's game against the Colorado Rockies in order to get some work in.

"He won't start a game until we get to Baltimore, so rather than going 10 days between starts he'll probably get an inning of work just to stay sharp."

* Farrell also offered an update on the status of outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who resumed baseball activities Friday.

"He ran today, he hit more off the tee, he threw. We're hopeful to get some BP in the cage tomorrow. He's making steady progress so we're hopeful that he'll be back in our lineup sometime this coming trip."

BOSTON -- From top to bottom, the 2013 Boston Red Sox were built on a simple premise, one that was etched into the minds of the players from the start of spring training under the Fort Myers sun and echoed throughout the clubhouse at the end of each game, win or lose.

Focus on the game today, try to win the game today and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

Even on the night his team of overachievers clinched its first division title since 2007, general manager Ben Cherington was still embracing that mantra.

"It's satisfying to be part of something that’s bigger and that’s good and that’s what we want to do, we want to be a part of something special," Cherington said, surrounded by reporters near the home dugout as the team he assembled continued to celebrate its victory from an hour previous. "This is a really important step toward hopefully something special."

Burdened with the responsibility of taking over a Red Sox team just a short time removed from one of the biggest collapses in the history of the sport, Cherington and Red Sox ownership made the bold decision to clean house late in 2012, trading Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett. Without that move, the Red Sox wouldn't be where they are today.

"I learned a lot [in 2012]," the 39-year-old Cherington said. "You go through the process as a new GM and you feel it out. Obviously a bit more confident going into a second year but ultimately it's the guys on the field that are playing. They’re executing, they’re winning games."

Given a blank canvas with which to start the 2013 season, Cherington began to put the pieces in place to build what would be a division-winning club. The list of newbies was long, none of which were the star players Red Sox fans had grown used to acquiring in free agencies past:

• Jonny Gomes, the team’s emotional leader and provider of many clutch moments throughout the summer.

• Mike Napoli, whose right-handed power bat and hot month of September has carried the Red Sox offense, primarily from the cleanup spot.

• Shane Victorino, the grit of the team who has played through a barrage of injuries since what seems like Day 1 of spring training.

• Ryan Dempster, who has provided a veteran presence and nearly 170 productive innings to the starting pitching staff.

• And then there’s the late spring training acquisition of Mike Carp from the Seattle Mariners for what seemed like next to nothing. There was Carp Friday night, lining an opposite-field, two-run single in the seventh inning that drove in what would stand as the game’s winning run.

"We tried to find guys that we felt were the right fit on the team for the roles we needed, the holes we had to fill," Cherington said. "We just wanted guys who wanted to be here and would be attracted to the opportunity, especially coming off a year like we had. There was a leap of faith by some of those guys and I think we all have gratitude and respect for the fact [that] some of those guys took a leap of faith."

The most important leap of faith from Cherington came in the form of John Farrell, who was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays in October to manage this team. From day one, Farrell preached the one-day-at-a-time mantra, doing what Cherington described as a "terrific job."

"He talked so much in the winter and spring training about keeping the focus on the field, being prepared, doing this together," he said. "Those are easy things to say, harder to pull off but then he did pull it off. He's got coaches who respect him, players who respect him. He led this from the first day of spring training so he deserves a tremendous amount of credit and I feel fortunate to be able to work with him."

Likewise, Farrell praised Cherington amid the postgame celebration.

"There's a lot of good players here and Ben did a great job of adding to the core guys that returned, and we saw what hard work and a team concept can produce," Farrell said.

By now it's obvious that there is no self-praise from Cherington himself, though. Asked several times about how big a personal achievement the team's success this season was, the modest general manager deflected the achievements to the players and staff beneath him.

"[The team's] full of a lot of guys for whom baseball is really important, for whom baseball is important and winning is important," he said in regard to why the team has continued to succeed. "They take it personally and they understand that when you come together and prepare and win as a team, it's a feeling like nothing else. It's more than any personal accomplishment or any individual accomplishment. They lived by that all year and I know they’ll continue to live by that and that's been gratifying to see and fun to be around.

"The guys on the field, they're the ones who do it. Players win games -- they always have, they always will. This group decided in spring training they were going to win, so here we are."

Winning. It's what the team Cherington put together has done 94 times this season (so far) and it's what the GM hopes will continue to happen as his team enters October.

“We thought we had a chance to compete, we thought the division was flat and very competitive. We felt going into the season we had a chance to compete for postseason," Cherington said. "We're going to keep going and we'll see where it goes."

Wherever it goes, the team will be sure to get there in the same manner it has done so all season long -- one day at a time.

BOSTON -- The final chapter on the 2013 Boston Red Sox has yet to be written. There may be many more moments that we one day label as "defining."

Regardless, all that took place around the organization in the days following the Boston Marathon bombings will always be remembered.

After the club clinched the American League East with a win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday, some were able to reflect on those moments and what it has meant to their season.

"This is a great city. This is our city," said first baseman Mike Napoli. "We felt for the people in this city, this is our hometown. Something like that happens, it's tough. We tried to rally around together to try to help the city of Boston try to forget about it for a couple of hours, try to put a smile on their faces."

They did so in an instant. Following an emotional pregame ceremony on April 20 in the first game following the tragedy, complete with a speech by David Ortiz that will never be forgotten, the Red Sox got a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning from Daniel Nava to steal a 4-3 win from the Kansas City Royals.

What really matters is how that day, that victory, helped the healing process. There's also no denying that it brought the players and coaches on this team a little closer.

"In that moment it was an opportunity for us to see how our guys responded to something that was a tragedy," manager John Farrell said. "And we knew it was an opportunity to help the city heal, but it was also a galvanizing moment for our guys. That clearly has been something that we won't forget."

BOSTON -- After the beer and champagne is spent, the Red Sox have to get back to the matter at hand. The American League East is all wrapped up, but there is plenty still to play for.

Boston's division-clinching 6-3 win over Toronto on Friday gave the club a 94-61 record. While the Sox celebrated their first AL East crown in six years, Oakland was polishing off an 11-0 triumph over Minnesota, which left the Athletics at 91-63. Detroit is just a game behind Oakland at 90-64.

Therefore, the best record in the AL is still up for grabs. Securing that top spot and clinching home-field advantage throughout the postseason remains a big incentive.

"We never put a win total on a number of games," Red Sox manager John Farrell said when asked about the possibility of reaching 100 victories. "I think the biggest thing is to secure home-field advantage however we can because we thrive on the energy and the atmosphere that's created in this ballpark. Our guys are extremely confident when we play at home. At home this is a very different feel."

Boston is 52-27 at Fenway Park this year, compared to 42-34 on the road. Since 1999, the club is 20-11 at home in the postseason and 16-18 on the road. That's a striking disparity, especially when your livelihood is determined in best-of-five or best-of-seven scenarios that can swing on one game.

The celebration in the clubhouse spilled onto the field Friday night, but after 20 minutes or so players began to settle down and returned to the clubhouse. At some point in the night (or morning), it will be time to turn the page and concentrate on that next goal. The winning pitcher, moments after being doused in champagne, managed to shed light on the need to refocus.

"The win's the most important thing and we will enjoy it," Jon Lester said. "Hopefully not too hard because we've got to get that best record."

BOSTON -- After John Lackey's gem Thursday night officially ushered the Red Sox into the postseason for the first time since 2009, many comparisons were made between his journey back from a pair of miserable years and the organization's own rise from the ashes.

And with good reason. Lackey's turnaround in many ways mirrors that of the team.

A similar comparison could be made with Daniel Nava, whose ability to navigate through the muck of 2011 and 2012 before breaking out in 2013 speaks to the resiliency that many in the organization have required to make a full transition from laughingstock to American League East champions.

Nava was a fresh-faced Independent League survivor whose first-pitch grand slam in 2010 came before the organization would begin a roller-coaster ride of epic proportions. That was before injuries sapped that talented 2010 team. It was before the front office reloaded with names that made someone like Nava even more of an afterthought than he already was, spending the entire 2011 season in the minors. It was before that uber-talented squad flushed its chances down the toilet with an inept September. And it was before the Bobby Valentine-led 2012 Red Sox, with Nava still a bit player, crumbled into pieces.

When it was time to forge ahead in the spring, the Sox brought in veteran free agents, two of whom played the outfield, and groomed a future star outfielder, in the eyes of many, in Jackie Bradley Jr. Nava? Well, he was there, but still just a depth piece, if he even made the team. He was far removed from that glorious grand slam moment, no longer in his 20s. Nary a soul saw him as a central figure in the club's biggest turnaround in 67 years.

Yet there he was Friday night after the Red Sox clinched the American League East, soaking up a moment that was difficult for him to comprehend.

"It's huge for me. It's too much for me," said Nava, who had two hits and scored two runs in the 6-3 triumph over the Toronto Blue Jays. "From Indy ball, to this? Are you kidding me?"

Nava uttered these words while standing near first base, holding his daughter of one month, Faith, and smiling ear to ear at the antics of his wild teammates, who sprayed one another with beer and champagne. The sight of an AL East champ holding such a precious gift amid a raucous scene was notable. Then again, so much of Nava's journey, which has been told many times, is notable.

While hard work has most definitely paid off, Nava has full recognition of how fortunate he has been.

"I said it from the get-go and I'll say it again: To have this opportunity, I thank the Red Sox," he said. "They gave me a chance and I'm so grateful."

Not only did they give him that chance by wresting him from the Chico Outlaws in 2008 and bringing him up in 2010, but they recognized the value a guy like Nava had on the current squad, even if on the surface it did not seem as if there was an immediate fit for him on the big league roster. Six months later, he is flirting with a .300 season, is ranked second on the team in on-base percentage and is an invaluable part of a flexible, deep roster that has seen him play plenty at three positions.

Nava admits that during those uncertain days in February and March, he did not envision an end result like that.

"I never did. Partly because I didn't know I was going to make the team out of spring training," he said. "I didn't know my exact role coming out of spring training, so just to have the opportunity to play left, right, first, I think that was something that I wanted, to play as much as I can and they've given me the opportunity to play a lot."

Another reason Nava is as good a candidate as any to serve as the symbol of the 2013 Red Sox is the manner in which he quickly thrust aside those uncertainties and made it obvious right off the bat that this was a different year. He started out on fire, and just 12 games into the season had four home runs, 14 RBIs and a .342 average. That helped fuel Boston's quick start, which in turn helped erase whatever sting remained from 2012.

And it was Nava who might have provided the biggest emotional boost of the young season when he hammered a go-ahead three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to lift the Sox to a win over Kansas City on April 20, their first game following the Boston Marathon bombings. A man who had experienced the ups and downs of the organization as much as anyone over the previous three years and was thought to be on the outside looking in during spring training had given a city, much less his team, exactly what it needed in one of its most trying times.

That hit, as much as anything, speaks to the spirit of the 2013 Red Sox, who turned a seemingly random collection of players into a force that forged a new love affair with its city. And one of the unlikely central figures was a one-time cast-off with a daughter named Faith.

BOSTON -- Because plate umpire Larry Vanover has a flair for the dramatic, he was able to provide a very fitting end to Jon Lester's latest triumph.

Lester's 123rd and final pitch Friday night, a cutter to Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, caught the outside corner. Vanover, in a nod to Frank Drebin, gave a full one-second pause, turned to his right and, with more than 37,000 hoping for a chance to erupt, punched out Reyes with panache.

With his second-longest pitch count of the season in the books, Lester left the mound to one of the larger eruptions on a night filled with them at Fenway Park. Given how his season has progressed, the Hollywood ending was rather fitting. Lester strolled into the sunset (the dugout, in this case), another chapter in another Red Sox revival story complete.

Lester tossed seven solid innings against a weak but still present Blue Jays lineup to lift Boston to the division-clinching 6-3 victory. It was the 100th win of his career, and among the most special for the resurgent lefty.

"I feel great. Back to being me," Lester said. "I had it in the beginning of the year, hit a little bump in the middle, got back to being me."

That little bump in the middle is becoming a distant memory, although in the interest of creating perspective it is worth noting. Lester was 2-4 with a 7.43 ERA over the course of eight starts in May and June. He is 7-4 with a 2.67 mark since, and has made this season look just like all the rest, save for the difficult 2012 campaign.

Having tutored Lester as his pitching coach early in the southpaw's career, Red Sox manager John Farrell can appreciate the journey.

"I think anytime you've got a homegrown guy start to finish to the point where we're at today, to be able to stand on the mound and pitch like he did, it's a sign of strength, it's a sigh of stability, which Jon has been," Farrell said.

Lester has thrown a no-hitter. He has thrown shutouts. He has dominated many opponents on many nights. On Friday, it seemed rather fitting that his outing, while very good, was not perfect. He was forced to wiggle out of a few situations, work through some pitch-heavy innings and do his best to come out unscathed.

That fighting spirit is what embodies the 2013 Red Sox, and it can easily be applied to Lester, who fought through a 2012 that had doubters lining up in droves and, again, that little bump that only made the doubters yell a bit louder. He will never be the same pitcher again, they would say. They should've traded him for Wil Myers!

Even if some of those individuals still exist, the roars of approval at Fenway Park on Friday would overwhelm their complaints.

Much like his season, Lester went through some trying times in the middle of his start. He loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth on a walk, an error and a single before inducing a double play and a strikeout to emerge unscored upon during a critical juncture in a game that remained tight into the late innings.

Lester allowed his lone run in the fifth and then walked the leadoff man in the sixth. With Boston nursing a 2-1 lead at the time, there was wonder if this would be a night of glory for the lefty.

It was, and the manner in which he completed his outing was the most impressive part. Lester struck out the side to strand that leadoff runner in the sixth and then emerged for the seventh, already over 100 pitches, to set down the Jays in order once again, capping it with a 10-pitch battle with Reyes that end with Lester painting the outside corner.

"It's something I've always said, especially when I've started off so slow in years past," he said before offering a line that applies both to his start Friday and to his season as a whole. "It's not how you start, it's how you finish."

Vanover's dramatic pause certainly added to the moment. But let's be honest. Lester wrote the script, and it's a hit.

BOSTON -- Worst to first.

That stunning journey for the Boston Red Sox is complete, a 6-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night the clincher that gives the organization its seventh American League East crown, its first since 2007 and -- without a doubt -- its most unexpected.

The Sox rode seven strong innings by Jon Lester, four late runs and another scoreless effort by Koji Uehara to the victory, their 94th of the season. Mike Carp had three RBIs, Daniel Nava recorded a pair of hits and scored twice and Dustin Pedroia was 3-for-5 with an RBI.

This historic win came exactly one year after Boston gave up one run in the bottom of the eighth and six more in the bottom of the ninth to lose 7-4 at Tampa Bay, one of the more stunning defeats during a 7-19 September that stands in such stark contrast to the current state of the organization.

Talk about a turnaround.

No, seriously, talk about it. We're off to dodge sprays of champagne and bring you reaction from what is sure to be a raucous Red Sox clubhouse. Here is a little light reading on tonight's affair to keep you company:

Jon's journey: Lester, considered by many to be the fifth starter in terms of effectiveness during a difficult June, ran his record to 15-8 with a solid effort. In doing so, he became the third left-hander in Red Sox history to record 100 wins.

Lester allowed a run on five hits while striking out eight to improve to 4-0 against Toronto in 2013.

Thanks, Koji: Lester handed a 5-1 lead over to the bullpen before Jays slugger Adam Lind halved the deficit with a two-run blast off Junichi Tazawa in the eighth. Tazawa allowed one more man to reach safely before Uehara entered for what would become his first five-out save. Uehara did give up an infield hit that brought the go-ahead run to the plate, but he fanned J.P. Arencibia on three pitches to stifle Toronto's last threat.

Tazawa was scuffling, to be sure. Still, manager John Farrell's decision to go to Uehara, and not someone else, with five outs to go said something about his desire to claim the division when it was there for the taking. It's also rather fitting that the Opening Day starter gets the win and the super closer gets the save on the night the Sox clinch.

AL Beast, AL Least: Had to mention this in a tweet earlier in the day, but it bears a retelling. Outside Fenway Park around 3 p.m., there were three Red Sox fans discussing the playoff rotation. Nearby, three men wearing Blue Jays jerseys were discussing ketchup chips.

The disparity in the two situations for Boston and Toronto was evident in those two snapshots, and it carried to the field. Moments after Lester used 10 pitches to set down the Blue Jays in order in the top of the first, Toronto center fielder Colby Rasmus couldn't even make it to his position for the bottom half before a ball thrown his way from the bullpen struck the unsuspecting Rasmus in the head, forcing him from the game.

The Jays are already down sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion and lost their cleanup hitter Friday night in one of the oddest manners possible, rendering an already weak lineup even more so. Replacement Kevin Pillar entered into the four-hole with a .171 average and one home run.

Despite all that: The Jays had their fair share of chances. In addition to the five hits against Lester, Toronto drew a pair of walks and had two men reach on errors. Lester picked up five of his eight strikeouts with runners on, which helped his cause tremendously.

5-2-5-2 double play: A big moment came in the fourth when Lester loaded the bases before performing a magic act to keep Toronto off the board.

Within that escape was an interesting inning for third baseman Will Middlebrooks, who allowed one man to reach on an error before starting an odd 5-2-5-2 double play by fielding a bouncer up the line, stepping on the bag and then working with Jarrod Saltalamacchia to get Pillar in a rundown.

Middlebrooks also had a nice diving stab in the fifth to get the speedy Jose Reyes.

Four-letter words: Boston's second run served as such a great reminder as to what has made this team so special. The rally in the third began with a ringing double by Daniel Nava, one of the unsung heroes of the turnaround, and ended with Mike Carp, another in that same category, drawing a bases-loaded walk. It was the third walk of the inning for the Red Sox, who ran starter Esmil Rogers from the game and saw 24 pitches in a span of four batters.

That patient approach, spearheaded by Mike Napoli -- who improved upon his league lead in pitches per plate appearance by taking a walk in the inning -- has frustrated guys like Rogers since the beginning of April.

One more magic number: The Sox have one more significant regular-season accomplishment for which to strive, that being the best overall record in the American League. (Two, if you want to count 100 wins.) With this victory, their lead over the Oakland Athletics sits at three games, but still just two in the loss column. The A's are hosting Minnesota later Friday night.

Up next: Clay Buchholz makes his final regular-season home start opposite Toronto lefty Mark Buehrle. Saturday's first pitch is 7:10 p.m.

BOSTON -- Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury has resumed baseball activities as he works his way back from a compression fracture of the navicular bone on his right foot. He has hit off a tee and done some throwing. Yet, Ellsbury’s return date remains very much up in the air.

“A positive step. How quickly those activities will ramp up has yet to be determined but he’s begun them,” manager John Farrell said Friday.

In other pregame news:

* Shane Victorino, who left Wednesday’s game early with a jammed right thumb and then sat out Thursday, originally was in the Red Sox lineup Friday but later scratched. Farrell indicated the move is not any cause for alarm.

“We’re trying to find the right construction of a little bit of a pad for that [thumb]. He went through some adjustments with the pad, went back down and hit, felt great, tried to talk his way into the lineup,” Farrell said. “I felt like it was probably the right thing to keep him out another day.”

Victorino has battled a litany of annoying physical issues this season, namely back and hamstring pain. The speedy outfielder should benefit from some down time this week, two scheduled days off next week, and several days off before the beginning of a division series.

Farrell indicated that Victorino’s back and hamstring problems have largely passed. He is confident that the thumb issue will as well.

“This isn’t something that’s going to keep him out for a long period of time,” Farrell said.

* With the trip to Colorado comes the usual inquiry into whether designated hitter David Ortiz will see any action at first base. Even in the likely event that the division is wrapped up by then, it is very probable that Boston will still be battling to secure the best record in the AL and homefield advantage for all postseason series. With that in mind, Farrell said he may use his big slugger at first base in one of the games and resist any urge to get him off his feet for too long.

* Farrell said he was pleased to see the calm manner with which his players clinched a playoff berth Thursday. There were no wild celebrations or champagne or dancing on the field -- just a regular postgame atmosphere.
When asked if the team will be as poised if it clinches the AL East, Farrell was succinct.

“No,” he said with a smile.

One Boston win or one Tampa Bay loss and that celebration can begin.

BOSTON -- Red Sox manager John Farrell said Friday that right-hander Ryan Dempster will work out of the bullpen for the remainder of the regular season as the team gears up for a smaller rotation in the postseason.

Dempster was in line to start one of the two games in the team’s upcoming series in Colorado, but will instead utilize a week-plus to prep for a role he held for four years earlier in his career.

“Had a chance to meet with him yesterday and walk through some of the scenarios that exist and he is fully on board,” Farrell said. “He’s a professional and understands it and this gives him some opportunities to adjust his warm-up routine. He’s excited and looking forward to his role.”

The veteran has made more than 200 relief appearances in his career, most in high-leverage situations as the regular closer with the Chicago Cubs from 2005 to 2007. While Dempster will give Boston another long relief option, Farrell intends to utilize him in more traditional one-inning stints, or thereabouts. Not only does Dempster have experience in such a role, but he brings with him to the bullpen a makeup that could yield some positive results. He ranks ninth among American League qualifiers in strikeouts per nine innings, giving him the ability to get a big K in a tight spot. Also, Dempster has looked very strong early in his outings before hitting some bumps in the road as the middle innings set in -- he owns a 2.17 ERA while limiting opponents to a .236 mark and striking out 32 in his 29 first innings this season.

“You see stuff in the first and second inning as being crisp and with the potential that it ticks up a little bit from there,” Farrell said. “I think this move with him, in my mind, there’s some intrigue with this because if there’s the ability to uptick with later action to the stuff and the experience that he’s had in one-innings stints, this could turn out to be a very good thing.”

After Jon Lester goes Friday night against Toronto, Clay Buchholz and Felix Doubront will finish up the final homestand of the season and Jake Peavy is scheduled to start the first game in Colorado on Tuesday. The finale of that set Wednesday night will either go to one of the call-ups, such as Allen Webster or Steven Wright, or it will be a game where Farrell pieces nine innings together with several guys who simply need some work.

As for the series at Baltimore on the final weekend of the regular season, Farrell continues to hold his cards close to the vest. He repeated Friday that Lester, Buchholz and John Lackey will appear in Camden Yards but would not reveal the order, which would offer some hints as to who starts the first two games of a division series.

Farrell said that Doubront may go to the pen after his final start of the year but nothing is set in stone.

BOSTON -- Red Sox outfielder Shane Victorino was scratched from the lineup for Friday’s series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Victorino, who left Wednesday’s game versus Baltimore early with a jammed right thumb and sat out Thursday’s contest, was penciled into manager John Farrell’s lineup early Friday, batting second and playing center field. But less than an hour later, Victorino was removed from the lineup. Daniel Nava moved up to the second spot while Jackie Bradley Jr. will play center field and bat ninth.

The Sox clinched a playoff berth Thursday night and have a magic number of one to clinch the American League East.

Here is their lineup as they go for the division title against Blue Jays right-hander Esmil Rogers:

1. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
2. Daniel Nava, RF
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Mike Napoli, 1B
5. Mike Carp, LF
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
7. Will Middlebrooks, 3B
8. Stephen Drew, SS
9. Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
LHP - Jon Lester

Every day between now and the end of the regular season, we'll check in on where things stand in the playoff race. The Red Sox clinched a playoff spot on Thursday.

• Red Sox record: 93-61

• Games left: 8

• Lead in AL East: 9 games over Tampa Bay (83-69)

• Magic number to win division: 1

• Magic number to clinch best overall record: 8

• What does magic number mean? If Tampa Bay wins all 10 of its remaining games, Boston would have to win 1 to win the division. Any combination of Sox wins and Rays losses totaling 1, and the Sox win the division. So that means the earliest they could win the division is Friday.

• 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 their remaining games. Then you see how many games you still need to win to ensure the division title even if your nearest competitor wins all of its remaining games.

• Overall ranking in league (important for determining home-field advantage in playoffs): First, 2½ games ahead of Oakland, 3½ games ahead of Detroit.

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

• What about the Yankees? The New York Post’s George King calls them the "3-D Yankees." Definitely Done Dancing. They lost to the Blue Jays 6-2 Wednesday night, their fifth loss in their last six games, and are 3½ games out of a wild-card spot with 9 games left to play. And they’d have to climb over four other teams to get there. The Yanks have scored 13 runs in their last 6 games; Alex Rodriguez is 1 for his last 22.

• Who’s hot?: Late-blooming third baseman Josh Donaldson of the Athletics is having a spectacular September slash line (.383 AVG/.500 OBP/.683 SLG) with 4 home runs and 12 RBIs in mounting an improbable challenge to Miguel Cabrera as the league's MVP. Donaldson is a big reason why Oakland has the league's best record in September at 13-5, a half-game better than Boston (12-5).

• Who’s not?: Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias avoided serious injury when he was struck in the left hand by a 95 mph fastball from Mariners reliever Tom Wilhelmsen on Thursday. X-rays came back negative, though Iglesias was left with a very painful bruise. “Absolutely I was afraid (it was broken),” said Iglesias, “but it’s not. That’s a good thing, great news, and I’m happy about it. A broken hand would have meant the rest of the season. It feels bad, but I got lucky.”

Iglesias has cooled off at the plate of late, batting .238 with no walks in his past 45 plate appearances.

• Red Sox latest outcome: Beat the Orioles 3-1 on Thursday.

• Rays latest outcome: Lost to the Rangers 8-2 on Thursday.

• Notable: Indians outfielder Matt Carson, a September call-up, entered the Astros-Indians game Thursday as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning, and then singled home the winning run in the 11th in Cleveland's 2-1 win. The victory pulled the Indians to within a half-game in the AL wild-card race. Carson’s nickname is “Crash” for his penchant for running into outfield walls. The 32-year-old has played in 1,250 minor league games, 84 in the bigs. He is 7-for-9 for the Indians.

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

With their magic number to clinch the AL East at 1, the Red Sox on Friday announced that tickets for the American League Division Series will go on sale Tuesday at noon.

Game 1 of the ALDS will be on Friday, Oct. 4 and will be played at Fenway Park (as long as the Sox don’t lose every game the rest of the way and the Rays win all of theirs).

Fans can get tickets by going to redsox.com or by calling 888-REDSOX6. Fans with disabilities may call (877) RED-SOX9 to purchase accessible seating (while supplies last). Hearing impaired patrons may call the TTY line at (617) 226-6644.

There will be a four-ticket limit per fan. Ticket prices for the ALDS range from $45 to $170.

BOSTON -- Some teams have all the fun. Like the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the National League West on Thursday afternoon in Arizona and celebrated by jumping into the Diamondbacks’ pool, which hardly endeared them to the locals.

“I could call it disrespectful and classless,” Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall, a former Dodgers employee, said via email, “but they don't have a beautiful pool at their old park and must have really wanted to see what one was like.”

On Thursday night, the Red Sox clinched a spot in the playoffs, too, beating the Baltimore Orioles 3-1, and did it at home, so they weren’t at risk of offending anyone had they also elected to make a splash. Remember the Sox running down to various local watering holes and commandeering the taps when they made the playoffs in 2003?

The challenge for the Sox, had they been interested in a communal dip after John Lackey’s complete-game two-hitter, would have been finding a suitable place for a dunking. The local Howard Johnson’s, behind the first-base grandstand, used to have a pool, but the clerk working the front desk said the chain got rid of it a couple of years ago. They could have had a private splash party -- there’s a lap pool in the exercise area above the clubhouse at Fenway -- but then no one would have been able to share in the hilarity, which is the point, isn’t it?

There are other ways to get soaked during a celebration -- champagne spraying comes to mind -- but these Sox remain intent on loftier goals than merely qualifying for the postseason tournament. There is still a division title to be won, and Thursday night's victory potentially put the Sox a night away from a bona fide, no-holds-barred, hide-the-women-and-children celebration Friday night.

“I mean, it’s not over," said Stephen Drew, the Sox shortstop who hit a two-run home run in the second, when the Sox scored all of their runs against Chris Tillman, a Boston nemesis. “We’ve still got games to play, and it’s huge to clinch a spot -- we’re not saying that [it isn’t]. It’s always huge to get in there, but hopefully in the next three days or so, whatever it takes to finally clinch the division, that’s what we want."

The Tampa Bay Rays lost at home 8-2 to the Texas Rangers on Thursday night, reducing the Sox's magic number to 1 to clinch their first AL East title since 2007. A Sox win or Rays loss settles the matter. The Sox's opponent Friday night? The Toronto Blue Jays, the team that employed John Farrell as manager the previous two years.

“We know where we’re at," Farrell said. “We know what was pending. We still feel like the next step is a more important one than this. We said a few times winning the East, that’s been a stated goal since spring training, that’s getting closer, and I think that will be a little more realization of where we’ve come from and where we are, at that moment."

But Farrell acknowledged there was some symmetry in Lackey, scorned from the outside as an overpaid acquisition through his first three years in Boston (which included the lost year of 2012 while he recovered from Tommy John surgery), being the one to send the Sox into the postseason.

“The remake of John Lackey, both physically and getting back on the mound and performing as he’s done all year, mirrors that of this team," Farrell said. “It’s been a remake, and it’s somewhat fitting that to clinch a spot to get into the playoffs with him on the mound, and to go nine innings the way he did -- like I said, was very fitting."

The Sox had lost the past two nights against the Orioles, who are fighting to stay alive in the wild-card race, but Lackey didn’t give them a chance Thursday. Pumping fastballs and sliders almost exclusively, Lackey took a no-hitter into the seventh, when Adam Jones crushed a hanging cutter onto Landsdowne Street for a home run with one out.

The Sox right-hander allowed just one more hit, a one-out single to right by J.J. Hardy in the eighth, and retired Jones on a fly ball to right for the game’s final out as a crowd of 36,436 chanted his name.

Lackey fell back on an old pitcher’s deceit, claiming the no-hitter occupied no place in the space beneath his cap. He’s never had one in the big leagues; he took one into the ninth inning against the Red Sox in Fenway Park on July 29, 2008, until Dustin Pedroia singled with one out and Kevin Youkilis followed with a home run.

“I just wanted to win the game," Lackey, then with the Angels, said that day. “The no-hitter would have been nice. Whatever. But we’re about winning games."

Fast-forward to Thursday night, and you heard an echo.

“Just trying to win a game," said Lackey, dismissing thoughts of a no-no while commending his catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia for calling “a great game, as usual."

“Can’t get too far ahead of yourself."

The Sox had only one hit -- Drew’s triple in the sixth -- over the final 5 1/3 innings, but Drew’s two-run homer, a double by rookie Jackie Bradley Jr. and an RBI single by Pedroia accounted for three runs in the Sox second.

“We were able to bunch some hits together," Farrell said in explaining the team’s relative success against Tillman, who still hasn’t allowed them more than three earned runs in a start since June 4, 2010, and lost for the first time in five starts at Fenway Park.

“He left his curveball up in the zone a couple of times. Bradley with the double the opposite way in the corner. Stephen, opposite-field home run. We didn’t miss pitches when they were up in the strike zone."

The Red Sox won 69 games and lost 93 last season. They hadn’t lost 90 or more games since 1966, which they followed a year later with “The Impossible Dream" pennant run.

Thursday night’s victory gave the Red Sox 93 wins, a one-year reversal that is the biggest since Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky and Bobby Doerr came back from war and the Sox won 104 games in 1946 after winning just 71 the year before.

Impossible? The season began as a white canvas. A blank page, full of possibilities, as a great composer once wrote. For these Red Sox, on the cusp of October, the possibilities are still without end.

Kyle Brasseur of ESPNBoston.com contributed to this report.

BOSTON -- The way Red Sox starter John Lackey pitched in Thursday night’s 3-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles, there wasn’t much need for the run support that’s typically been absent for him all season long. In fact, shortstop Stephen Drew provided all the runs Lackey needed with one swing of the bat in the second inning.

With a man on second and one out, Drew launched a first-pitch, opposite-field home run off Orioles starter Chris Tillman to give the Red Sox an early two-run lead. The home run was Drew’s 13th of the season and first since Sept. 4 against the Detroit Tigers.

“Just trying to be aggressive,” Drew said of the at-bat. “Wanted to get a pitch I could drive and I was able to do that and put a good swing on it.”

The home run, which just snuck over the Monster, was only the second the Red Sox have hit off Tillman in his career, a span of 57 1/3 innings. Entering Thursday’s game, the 25-year-old right-hander was 3-0 in four starts against Boston this season with a 1.42 ERA.

“He’s been so good against us for the first [four] times that he’s started, so there was some familiarity,” manager John Farrell said. “When we got pitches up in the strike zone, we were able to not miss them.”

“He’s a sneaky guy; he’s thrown the ball well all year,” said Drew, who added a triple off Tillman in the sixth to go 2-for-3 on the night. “If we could get a run right there to get things going, it’s huge. It worked out for us tonight.”

The win earned the Red Sox a spot in the postseason for the first time since 2009, and Drew didn’t hesitate to speak fondly when asked about how far the team has come this season.

“I know what this team, the last two years, has done -- and to be a part of coming over here first year and the guys that we had and coming into spring training, it’s fun,” he said. “It’s great to come to the clubhouse every day; it’s fun to come to work.”

BOSTON -- An unpleasant flashback ... or was it?

During John Farrell's pregame media session, which is conducted in a room just above the Sox clubhouse, David Ortiz opened the door and barged into the session.

"The scorekeeper here is full of [expletive]," Ortiz said.

Before jaws could drop too far, Ortiz followed up.

"Just [messing] with you," he said.

Ortiz, you may recall, once interrupted a similar session of Terry Francona's to complain about an RBI denied him by a scorer's decision in 2011.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Globe reporter Pete Abraham asked Farrell, with 10 being most worried, how concerned was Farrell that Ortiz was on the level?

"A '1,'" Farrell said.

A few other tidbits from Farrell's session:

* Shane Victorino, who was lifted for pinch-hitter Jackie Bradley Jr. on Wednesday night, is being given the night off Thursday to rest his jammed right thumb.

* No baseball activity yet for Jacoby Ellsbury, but no surprise there.

* Rotation for the weekend series against the Blue Jays: Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront. Jake Peavy will start Tuesday. Farrell said Wednesday's starter is to be determined.

* Farrell said "we'll see" when asked if Koji Uehara, who has pitched in each of the last two games, could pitch Thursday night. Farrell noted that the Sox have used Uehara only once this season in three straight games.

That was June 26-28, when Uehara pitched a scoreless inning apiece against the Rockies, then back-to-back games against the Jays, registering saves in all three games and striking out two in each game. He threw a total of 44 pitches in the three games. He has thrown a dozen pitches in each of the last two nights against the Orioles.

* Farrell said that it's possible he would hit for Stephen Drew in the postseason against left-handers. He'll have that discussion beforehand with Drew, Farrell said, if he elects to go in that direction. Farrell allowed Drew to face lefty T.J. McFarland in the 11th inning Wednesday and he hit into an inning-ending double play. He's batting .183 against lefties, and after hitting .304 overall in August, he's cooled off this month (.226, 12 for 53).