Pablo Sandoval is headed back to the disabled list.
The Boston Red Sox third baseman was placed on the 10-day DL with a right knee sprain on Tuesday and infielder Josh Rutledge was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket on Tuesday.
Sandoval, 30, sustained the injury while fielding a ground ball in the sixth inning of Sunday’s 6-2 win against the Orioles in Baltimore.
The three-time World Series champion and former World Series MVP with the San Francisco Giants played just three games last season before landing on the DL with a shoulder strain and later undergoing season-ending surgery.
Sandoval missed 195 of a possible 324 games over his first two seasons of a five-year, $95 million deal with the Red Sox.
In 2017, Sandoval is batting .213 (13-for-61) with three home runs and 10 RBIs in 17 games. He owns a .238 average with 13 homers and 57 RBIs in 146 games over three seasons in Boston.
Rutledge, 28, began the season on the disabled list with a left hamstring strain.
Boston (11-8) is third in the American League East and trails the Baltimore Orioles for first place by 2 1/2 games.
Tuesday night’s scheduled game between the Red Sox and New York Yankees in Boston was postponed because of rain, the Red Sox announced Tuesday afternoon.
The game has been rescheduled for July 16 at 1:05 p.m., and will be part of a day-night doubleheader that will be part of that series at Fenway Park.
Wednesday’s game between the Red Sox and Yankees is also in jeopardy, because rain is forecast for that day as well.
It remains uncertain how the pitching matchups will be affected by the rainout. The Yankees’ Luis Severino was originally scheduled to start against Rick Porcello on Tuesday, with New York’s Masahiro Tanaka scheduled to face Chris Sale on Wednesday night.
Dustin Pedroia was ready to return to the Red Sox lineup Tuesday night after missing two games in Baltimore because of a left leg injury suffered when he was spiked by the Orioles’ Manny Machado on Friday night.
Pedroia, who had an MRI exam on his knee and ankle Monday, was ready to return after finding himself in the middle of a controversy resulting from the spiking, and his words shouted at Machado that could be easily read by television cameras.
Matt Barnes threw a pitch up near Machado’s head and drawing a four-game suspension and a fine. Pedroia could be seen saying, “It wasn’t me,” a sign he had nothing to do with the retribution for the play at second base.
The fiery second baseman, seen as a team leader after the retirement of David Ortiz, was apparently acting on his own, leading some to hint at dissension in the clubhouse. Tuesday, Pedroia said, “We talked about that. We’re going to keep it in house.”
Rick Porcello and Luis Severino, two right-handers with something to prove, were the scheduled starters and will be pushed back to open what is now a two-game set Wednesday night.
Boston’s Porcello, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, hopes to continue what he hopes is the climb back to showing last year’s 22-4 was no fluke.
Severino comes in 1-1 with a 4.05 ERA in his three starts on the young season. He has struck out 27 in 20 innings, with 21 strikeouts over the last two starts. He lost his last time out, but pitched a career-high eight innings, struck out 10 and didn’t walk a batter while allowing two Chicago White Sox home runs.
Porcello (1-2) allowed three unearned runs in the second inning — courtesy of two infield errors — and then shut the Toronto Blue Jays down the rest of his seven innings. He suffered the loss, but the no earned runs in seven innings only brought his ERA down to 7.56.
The Yankees are 11-7, surprising to some, but are 8-1 at home and just 3-6 on the road after dropping two of three over the weekend in Pittsburgh. They now have two at Boston and then come home for three against the Orioles and three more against the Toronto Blue Jays.
“It’s an important stretch,” Girardi said in Pittsburgh on Sunday.
The Red Sox (11-8) just finished a 3-3 road trip by salvaging the series finale in Baltimore.
Porcello is 7-5 with a 3.28 ERA lifetime against the Yankees, while Severino is 0-3 with a 4.71 ERA with a 5.71 ERA in four outings, three starts, against Boston. He does have 20 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings against the Red Sox.
The struggling Brett Gardner is hitting .417 lifetime against Porcello, while Pedroia is 3-for-7 with a home run against Severino.
Meanwhile, Boston left-hander David Price, recovering from an elbow injury, reported he was feeling good Tuesday after his throwing session Monday.
Price tweeted: “Feel great today. This is my media session. All questions answered, if you have any more ask Manager John (Farrell).”
NOTES: Boston expatriate Jacoby Ellsbury said he was OK after banging his left side into the center-field wall at Pittsburgh in pursuit of Chris Stewart’s first career triple. “Even the two losses we had this week, we had a good chance to win,” Ellsbury said after the Yankees dropped two of three at Pittsburgh after an 8-1 homestand. “Each week is a new challenge and I’m excited to see what we can do against Boston.” … New York’s Aaron Judge can take aim above the Green Monster, following a week in which he hit two memorable tape-measure blasts. But the Yanks need more from Greg Bird (5-for-48, .104) and Brett Gardner (10-for-55, .182), while Matt Holliday (10-for-46, .217) returns to the DH spot after being used only a pinch-hitter during interleague play this past weekend.