The Boston Red Sox will be just about back to full strength Thursday in Oakland.
Boston will wrap up its four-game series with the Athletics, and it will have Steve Pearce back in the fold. The veteran first baseman started the season on the injured list after hurting his calf during spring training. To make room for Pearce, the Red Sox sent Sam Travis back to Triple-A Pawtucket.
The last time Pearce played in a meaningful game was Game 5 of the World Series when he cemented himself as series MVP with a pair of home runs in the clincher, giving him three total in the Fall Classic. Boston acquired Pearce last July from the Toronto Blue Jays in one of the club’s better moves of the season. Even before lighting the world on fire in October, Pearce hit .279 with seven home runs and 26 RBIs in 50 games with Boston, posting a .901 OPS over that stretch.
The Red Sox signed Pearce to a one-year, $6.25 million contract in the offseason.
