Notes: Lineup shuffle in order for Crawford’s return

By Sean McAdam
CSNNE.com Red Sox InsiderFollow @sean_mcadam
Josh Reddick was in the lineup Sunday night. His playing time is likely to be reduced when Crawford returns, but Reddick will still get some opportunities in right field over J.D. Drew.

"At some point, when he's hot like this, the kid's got to play," said Francona. "It's kind of like (Jed Lowrie) earlier in the year. You're doing your team a disservice (if he's not in there). He's been terrific.

"Until we're there, I don't know how to make that work perfectly. But we're just going to try to win. Whoever we think will help us win will play."

The Sox must make a roster move to make room for Crawford's activation. It's widely expected that Drew Sutton will be sent back to Pawtucket to make room for the outfielder's return.

Yamaico Navarro would still give the Sox a second shortstop on the roster behind Marco Scutaro and while both Sutton and Navarro can play the outfield, Navarro's bat is far more potent.

David Ortiz expressed hope that there's no carryover this week from last week's dust-up with the Orioles.

"Hopefully, not," said Ortiz, who is appealing a four-game suspension for charging the mound after Kevin Gregg pitched him inside on July 8. "MLB is paying attention to all this stuff. I'm not a pitcher. I can't tell you anything about that. I don't throw no balls. Hopefully, they're smart and put that away and play the game the way it's supposed to be."