The Red Sox’ choice to call up infielder Jose Iglesias and pitcher Alfredo Aceves from Triple-A after placing Will Middlebrooks and Shane Victorino on the disabled list leaves the team with just one reserve outfielder on the active roster.

As The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo mentioned during Red Sox GameDay LIVE prior to Friday night’s game, Boston’s desire to work utility infielder Pedro Ciriaco into the outfield rotation may have played a role in the decision not to bring up a full-time outfielder from Pawtucket.

Ciriaco has spent limited time in the outfield in the past — appearing in seven games there for the Sox last season and two for Pittsburgh in 2011 — and saw time with the outfielders in spring training.

To hear more from Cafardo, check out the video above or visit NESN’s YouTube channel.

It has been less than a week since Jose Iglesias began taking reps at third base in Pawtucket, but Red Sox manager John Farrell trusts the young infielder’s instincts enough to pencil him in at the position Friday night.

Iglesias impressed at shortstop during his six-game stint with the big league club back in April but has never seen action at the hot corner in the majors.

“Talking with [PawSox manager] Gary DiSarcina, it just felt like [Iglesias] took to the position naturally,” Farrell said before Friday’s game against Cleveland. “He’s a very instinctual player. He’s got very good reactions and reflexes, and that’ll be the case more at third base than being back in the middle of the infield where he’s got a little more time to get the pace and the speed of the ground ball.”

Check out the video above or visit NESN’s YouTube channel to hear more from Farrell on the rest of the team’s roster moves, plus his take on Terry Francona‘s return to Fenway.

The Red Sox were arguably the best fielding team in baseball through April, but the Boston gloves have stiffened since. The Sox entered Wednesday night ranked ninth in the American League in fielding percentage (.985), errors (25) and double plays turned (39), raising the question of what manager John Farrell can do to reverse this trend.

Jose Iglesias‘ name has come up as someone who is known for his defensive prowess, especially now that he is being worked in at positions other than shortstop down in Pawtucket. The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham thinks Iglesias’ tools could certainly help the Red Sox in the field, but he feels that the 23-year-old still needs to improve his offensive game to merit a promotion.

To hear more from Abraham, check out the video above or visit NESN’s YouTube channel.

Shane Victorino is not afraid to sacrifice his body in order to track down fly ball in right field. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, Victorino’s body has indeed taken a beating this season.

The right fielder tweaked his back while running into the outfield wall Thursday night in Tampa Bay, an injury he says is unrelated to back troubles that caused him to miss nine games earlier this season. He was also shaken up when he slammed hard into the bullpen wall during the Sox’ most recent homestand, though that hit did not cause him to miss any games.

Peter Abraham joined Red Sox GameDay LIVE on Friday to give his take on Victorino’s style of play and discuss how he compares to Bryce Harper, another outfielder known for giving 100 percent on every play.

Check out the video above or on NESN’s YouTube channel.

Since his 27-game hitting streak was snapped last Wednesday, David Ortiz has struggled at the plate.

Starting that night against the Twins, Ortiz proceeded to go 1-for-17 over four games, dropping his average more than 80 points (to .333) before manager John Farrell gave him a night off  on Sunday. Big Papi went just 1-for-4 in his return to the lineup on Tuesday, but that one hit was a three-run homer that provided Boston’s only offense of the night.

Ortiz revealed Tuesday that he has been hampered by an oblique injury for the better part of a week, leading to his lack of production, but The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham thinks the slugger is now fully recovered as the Sox continue their nine-game road trip.

See more from Abraham in the video above.

Heading into Friday night, the Red Sox, Orioles and Yankees sat tied for first place in the American League East — though New York technically held an edge by percentage points. Boston’s recent struggles, coupled with the O’s season-long consistency and the Yankees’ surprising success despite a glut of injuries, have created some intense competition in one of baseball’s most balanced divisions.

Tampa Bay and Toronto have underperformed thus far, but both certainly have the talent necessary to pull a midseason turnaround.

An all-star panel of Tom Caron, Tim Wakefield, Peter Abraham and Nick Cafardo sat down to discuss the state of the AL East prior to Friday night’s Red Sox-Blue Jays matchup at Fenway Park. Check out what they had to say in the video above.

With a 5-2 loss to the Twins on Thursday, the Red Sox lost sole possession of first place in the American League East for the first time since Opening Day. It was Boston’s third straight defeat — all at home — and its sixth in the last seven games.

Manager John Farrell sat down with Tom Caron during Friday Night Fenway before the Sox opened their series with the Blue Jays to discuss how his team has reacted to the first real “rough stretch” of the season.

See what he had to say in the video above.

As someone who spent 19 years in the majors, Tim Wakefield knows that a 162-game season is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.

All teams experience patches of adversity throughout the season-long grind, and Wake says that it’s when things aren’t going to plan that you discover the true character of a team. The Red Sox are falling into their first funk of 2013, as they have lost five of their last six games after jumping out to one of the best starts in franchise history.

Check out Wakefield’s take on the Sox’ recent struggles, plus a look at newly promoted Jose De La Torre, in the video above.

More than 2,000 runners participated in the 2013 Run/Walk to Home Base event, and of those, 480 were active service men and women.

The annual event raises money for the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program, which provide clinical care, education and research to help Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and families dealing with post traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury.

NESN’s own Tom Caron and Jenny Dell both raised funds and participated in the event. It seems TC may have had a faster time, but conceded to Jenny when it came to raising money for a good cause.

Hear what Jenny and TC had to say after the run in the video above.

Dennis Eckersley feels very strongly that Clay Buchholz is not cheating, and he has not been afraid to make himself heard about that fact.

After dismissing Toronto broadcaster Dirk Hayhurst as a “career minor leaguer” before Thursday’s game, Eck showed no restraint in similarly going after Blue Jays television announcer (and former MLB pitcher) Jack Morris.

Check out Eckersley’s pointed comments directed toward Morris from Thursday’s Red Sox Extra Innings LIVE.

With Clay Buchholz accused of doctoring the baseball during his start in Toronto on Wednesday, there was no shortage of defenders coming to the Red Sox starter’s aid. Chief among them was manager John Farrell, who admitted that it bothered him “immensely” that someone watching on TV would try to stir up trouble for his ace.

“The fact is,” Farrell said before Thursday’s game, “the guy’s 6-0, he’s pitched his tail off and if people are going to point at cheating … unfounded.”

NESN analysts Jerry Remy and Dennis Eckersley agreed, quickly dismissing the claims made by former MLB pitcher and current Blue Jays broadcaster Dirk Hayhurst.

“I have faced guys that have thrown spitballs before and you know it right away,” Remy explained. “There was none of that going on here [Wednesday] night.”

Eckersley concurred, going so far as to call into question why Hayhurst’s criticism carries any weight.

“First of all, why are we giving this guy any play who said this, these accusations, to me is tired to begin with. He’s a lifetime minor league pitcher that’s watching the video and I don’t know what he saw,” Eckersley said. “To me, it’s a joke. [Buchholz is] so nasty, to take anything away from the way the guy is throwing the ball right now is absolutely ridiculous.

“To take that away from this kid right now is a crime because this is as good as I’ve seen anybody start a season off and he doesn’t need to cheat.”

Check out what else Eckersley and Remy had to say in the above video.

Mike Napoli‘s swing has fit right in so far at Fenway Park.

Entering Saturday’s game, the first baseman has driven in a league-high 27 runs so far this season, and he is on par to break his career record of 75 runs batted in. Napoli’s big bat turned heads in the beginning of the season, especially in David Ortiz‘s absence, but his big numbers are the product of a full team effort.

Jim Rice joined Tom Caron on Red Sox GameDay LIVE to talk about Napoli’s successful start.

Hear what Rice had to say in the video above.

The Red Sox are 22 games into the 2013 season, and they still have yet to lose when either of their top two starters take the mound.

Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz have both been among the league’s elite hurlers this season, and their dominance has been evident in the standings. A 7-2 win over Houston in Buchholz’s most recent start ran the team’s record to a perfect 10-0 in games he or Lester starts.

Though Boston is just 5-7 in the remaining 12 contests, manager John Farrell is confident that the dominance at the top of the rotation will lead to similar success for the team’s No. 3, 4 and 5 starters.

Farrell discussed this and more with Tom Caron prior to Friday’s matchup with the Astros. Check it out in the video above.

The UMass Lowell men’s hockey team, fresh off a Frozen Four appearance and the first Hockey East title in school history, was on hand at Fenway Park to throw out the first pitch before the Red Sox-Astros game on Thursday, with captain Riley Wetmore doing the honors.

The River Hawks also found out earlier in the day that they will be making another trip to the ballpark next winter, but that one will be for a very different reason. UML was one of eight Hockey East squads selected to participate in the third “Frozen Fenway” series of outdoor games this coming January.

After a one-year absence, the ballpark normally used for baseball will host a number of collegiate, high school and recreational hockey games, as well as public skates and other special events.

River Hawks head coach Norm Bazin, Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna and Red Sox chief operating officer Sam Kennedy joined Tom Caron on Yawkey Way to preview the event. Check out the full interview in the video above.

By now, Daniel Bard‘s struggles in 2012 have been well documented.

After struggling early in the season after transitioning to a starting role and subsequently developing a bout of Steve Blass disease, Bard was sent to Pawtucket, never to return. Except now, after starting the 2013 campaign in Double-A Portland, he has finally come back to the big club and is back in his familiar reliever’s role.

Before his first game back, WEEI’s Rob Bradford and the Red Sox Gameday Live crew talked about what to expect from Bard this season. Bradford says Bard’s fastball is hittable in the big leagues, but that his slider is so good he still has the tools to be successful at this level.

Check out the conversation in the video above.

At 2:50 p.m. on Monday, exactly one week after the city of Boston was changed forever, a moment of silence was held for the victims of the Boston Marathon tragedy. As fast as the devastation occurred, heroes of all kinds responded.

In the past week, people who are willing to help have been anything but silent. Check out the video above to hear Tom Caron describe Boston’s healing process a week after the incident.

The Watertown Police Department showed the world what they are made of during last week’s capture of Suspect No.2 in the Boston Marathon bombings.

The department concluded a day-long lockdown of the town with the successful apprehension of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a Watertown neighborhood on Friday. Watertown Police Captain Ray Dupuis joined Tom Caron on Red Sox GamedayLive to describe the emotional roller coaster that gripped the country over the weekend.

Check out the video above to hear Dupris describe how the Watertown police responded on the day of the standoff.

During Spring Training, Red Sox pitching coach Juan Nieves said he wanted to help rewrite the story for the Sox.

Through the first 19 games on 2013, the Sox’ starting rotation has come out hot. Allen Webster got his first major league start on Sunday night, after being named a top pitcher in the International league. But at the beginning of Spring Training, there were questions as to whether Webster would be ready.

Thanks to Nieves, Webster, along with the rest of the starting rotation, has come out strong.

Check out the video above to see how Nieves has made such an impact.

It’s not every day you see Gov. Deval Patrick sitting in the Red Sox’ dugout, waiting for a game to begin, but that’s what the scene was Saturday as the Red Sox prepared to play the Kansas City Royals in the team’s first game in Boston since the tumultuous events of the week unfolded.

Patrick joined first responders and members of law enforcement as the team honored everyone involved in Monday’s tragedy and the weeklong investigation.

While the Red Sox players’ main role Saturday was to play baseball, they were also involved in honoring the city and its heroes. Whether players are new to Boston or have spent a season or two around, they all knew Saturday was going to be, as outfielder Shane Victorino called it, “special.”

The ballplayers and everyone at Fenway Park paid homage to the relationship the team has with its city on Saturday, with Will Middlebrooks, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Jonny Gomes and Victorino sharing their thoughts before the game. Tom Caron and Peter Gammons then spoke about what it means to have the Sox back home at Fenway Park, and the relationship this team has quickly formed with the city and its people.

Check it out in the video above.

Many suspected the Red Sox’ pitching would be improved this year, but no one could have predicted just how hot the starters and relievers would begin the 2013 campaign.

Through 11 games, the Red Sox have a 2.76 team ERA and 1.18 WHIP. They have 109 strikeouts in just 98 innings to average 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings. They currently lead the AL in ERA and batting average against, and they lead all of MLB in strikeouts per nine innings.

New faces like Koji Uehara and Ryan Dempster have helped, but the key pieces of Boston’s rotation have been the team’s No. 1 and 2 starters, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz. Buchholz’ adjusted ERA+ after three starts sits at 1,005 — 10 times the average 100 score.

No one’s more qualified to talk about Red Sox pitching that Tim Wakefield, who joined NESN’s Tom Caron to discuss the 2013 staff. Watch the video above to hear Wake’s take on Boston’s improved pitching.