Chris Carpenter, sent to the Red Sox back in spring training as compensation for the team allowing Theo Epstein to join the Chicago Cubs with a year remaining on his contract, made his Red Sox debut Monday.
Carpenter, who underwent surgery in the spring to remove some bone spurs from his elbow, recorded three outs in the bottom of the eighth after Rich Hill had walked the first batters of the inning.
"He's got a couple of pitches that are pretty hard to hit when they're down," said Bobby Valentine. "He's got a good fastball (and a) good slider."
The Sox can use all the bullpen reinforcements that they can get at this point, having relief heavily on their relievers during this trip. In the series just completed in Oakland, the bullpen pitched 14 23 innings when the starters were shelled early.