NEW YORK -- Shortstop Mike Aviles, who has started 94 of the team’s 101 games at short, was not in the Red Sox lineup Sunday. Pedro Ciriaco made his third start of the season at the position.

Aviles has had a tough weekend on his home turf (he grew up in the Bronx). He failed to turn a key double play Friday and struck out three times Saturday. He has had a tough month offensively, posting a line of .194/.234/.292 in July. Manager Bobby Valentine said Aviles is not playing because of the “turf toe” that caused him to miss a game last weekend against the Blue Jays.

"We thought we had it in a situation that was comfortable, but it's less than comfortable," Valentine said. "I hope it’s only a day, but we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.

“It's affected his batting. But he's been gutting through it, and he's wanted to play. Every time he's been asked, he says he's fine."

Ciriaco, meanwhile, had three hits Saturday, including a tie-breaking triple in the ninth inning of the 8-6 win over the Bombers. He’s batting .455 (15 for 33) against right-handers and .356 overall. He also has started eight games at second base and five at DH.

“You’ve seen him at his best,’’ Valentine said of Ciriaco, a six-year minor-league free agent who had played only a handful of games in the big leagues before this season but caught Boston’s attention with a great spring training. “Obviously every player has some flaws. I think he’s going to be a contributing factor all year long. I don’t necessarily see him as a starting player every day, but he could do it if we needed him to.’’

Crawford back in lineup: Carl Crawford, who was kept out of Saturday’s game as part of what Valentine called a four-day program, was back in left field, batting second.

“I talked to him yesterday after the game, and I talked to him again today,’’ Valentine said. “Like he said before [Saturday’s game], ‘I got it,’ and after batting practice he said, ‘It’s cool,’ and today he said, ‘No problem.’ I said, ‘Hey, if I do anything to confuse you, make you anything less than as comfortable as possible, you’ve just got to let me know.’ I guess whenever everyone [reporters] came to his locker, he got uncomfortable.

"He says he’s fine. If [the elbow] bothers him, you don’t want it to get to the point where it’s intolerable. It made sense to me. We’re hoping that it will be hurting him less, bothering him less, and get better. That’s why we have a prescribed program.’’

Valentine maintains that it’s debatable whether Crawford will eventually require surgery, which the outfielder has repeatedly said.

“Once again, I heard what Carl said. I’ve never been told that he needs an operation. I don’t think that’s a definitive situation.’’

Hoping for Ortiz: Valentine said he remained hopeful that DH David Ortiz (strained Achilles) will come off the disabled list when he is eligible Wednesday. “He’s feeling good enough that in a couple, three days, if it gets better, he should feel good enough, but you never know.’’ ... Daisuke Matsuzaka is scheduled to pitch Monday in Rochester, N.Y., for Triple-A Pawtucket, the start of another rehab assignment.