BOSTON — You can only keep Dustin Pedroia off a baseball field for so long.
Pedroia finally got back to work Tuesday night, starting at second base against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park after being activated from the 15-day disabled list earlier in the day.
Boston surrendered four runs in the 10th inning in a disappointing 5-1 loss, but Red Sox fans likely were pleased to see Pedroia rip a wall-ball double off Blue Jays knuckleballer R.A. Dickey in his third at-bat.
“I actually felt pretty good,” Pedroia told reporters after the game. “It was kind of tough facing a knuckleball — especially since (Dickey) was on — but my next at-bat I saw a fastball and a slider and felt fine.
“… It’s just good to be out there and play again.”
Pedroia finished 1-for-4 and made a few nice plays defensively. Interim manager Torey Lovullo said his second baseman likely will play Wednesday if everything checks out OK.
Check out a few more nuggets from Tuesday’s loss below.
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— Henry Owens had some rough patches, but it was a solid night overall for the rookie left-hander.
Owens held the potent Blue Jays lineup to just one run on three hits while striking out four over 5 1/3 innings.
He struggled with his command at times, issuing four walks, hitting two batters and throwing two wild pitches, but the 23-year-old worked himself out of those self-induced jams.
“He was in a little bit of a fistfight there,” Lovullo said of Owens after the game. “Made some pitches when he had to. Fastball command was where he needed to have it, and the changeup was a very effective pitch for him (Tuesday).
“You’ve got to navigate through this lineup … creatively, and I think he did a really good job. (He) ran up his pitch count into the 90s but got us into the sixth inning, and that’s what we ask our starters to do.”
— Rusney Castillo took a gamble in the ninth inning, and it didn’t pay off.
Pinch-running for David Ortiz with one out in a tie game, Castillo tried to swipe second on a 3-1 pitch to Travis Shaw. Shaw took it for a strike, and catcher Russell Martin gunned out Castillo to thwart the potential rally.
“We thought we had a good key in that situation, and unfortunately, it didn’t work out,” Lovullo said of the play.
— Mookie Betts’ single in the third inning extended his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest of his career and the longest active one in the majors. Betts has raised his average nearly 20 points since Aug. 12 from .266 to .285.
— Shaw continues to provide some impressive pop.
The rookie infielder hit his ninth home run of the season in the second inning, his second long ball in as many games. Nine of Shaw’s last 13 hits have gone for extra bases.
— Josh Donaldson came about as close to a home run as humanly possible in the 10th inning.
The Blue Jays third baseman hit a towering fly ball to left field off reliever Alexi Ogando that landed on the very top of the Green Monster.
The play was reviewed twice — once to determine it was a triple, not a long ball, and again to rule Donaldson barely beat Pablo Sandoval’s tag at third base.
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— The Red Sox welcomed back a familiar face Tuesday, recalling veteran left-hander Rich Hill to the big-league club.
The 35-year-old Milton, Mass., native, who spent three years with the Sox from 2010 to 2012, signed a minor-league deal with Boston in August.
Thumbnail photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images
