When Justin Masterson's rehab assignments came to an end, it was unclear how he would fit into the Red Sox pitching staff when he returned.
In his first appearance since May 12, Masterson stepped into the Red Sox rotation and gave up one run in five innings in the Red Sox' 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
"For not having pitched in 10 days since his last rehab start and to think he hasn't been in a Major League game in roughly six, seven weeks, he came out and threw a good percentage of strikes," said Farrell. "I thought he had very good action to his sinker in the bottom of the strike zone and he threw a number of sliders that had that big, sweeping action. He pitched comfortably. He gave us a solid five innings today."
Happy to be pitching in the Major Leagues again, Masterson was happy with the movement on his pitches.
"It was great to be out there, able to throw strikes and a really good slider," said Masterson. "The biggest thing, our boys were able to hit some homers, put some runs on the board. In the end it always makes it a little easier to pitch when you've got some runs."