--OF J.D. Drew took swings at live pitching for the first time on Saturday and voiced optimism that he'll be ready to come off the 15-day disabled list during Boston's homestand this week. Drew has been out of the lineup since Aug. 18 with a lower back strain, but he took batting practice against injured RHP David Aardsma and shagged flyballs in the outfield. Manager Terry Francona indicated that Drew is still feeling some level of discomfort, but the right fielder's back is improving on a gradual basis. "More than anything now, it's running full speed, getting breaks on balls," Drew said. "It's maybe the thing that I've got to be ready to do, standing flat-footed for two to three innings before you actually get a ball hit to you."
--RHP Manny Delcarmen leads the Sox in appearances this season with a career-high 65, and he has posted a career-high 63 innings pitched. The 26-year-old reliever -- after surrendering a home run Sunday afternoon -- has allowed only one earned run in his last 11 1/3 innings pitched, and he is enjoying a dominant stretch in what's becoming a consistently streaky season. Delcarmen's previous major league highs were 50 games and 53 1/3 innings pitched, but the young righty appears to be responding well to the heavy workload. --RHP Devern Hansack was recalled from Class AAA Pawtucket on Sunday to add some bullpen pitching depth to the expanded Red Sox roster. The 30-year-old was 6-10 with a 4.08 ERA in 25 minor league starts, but he hadn't pitched for the Sox in 2008 after registering time with the big club in both 2006 and 2007. Hansack, a native of Nicaragua, is 1-2 with a 3.57 ERA in five major league games with the Red Sox.
--DH David Ortiz smashed a prodigious home run Sunday afternoon at the Ballpark in Arlington, and he snapped the longest homer-less drought of his career. Big Papi had gone a career-worst 70 at-bats since he last launched a homer against the Rangers at Fenway Park on Aug. 14. The power outage lasted 19 games, matching the longest stretch Ortiz had gone without homering in his career.
--RHP Bartolo Colon made his final minor league start for Class AAA Pawtucket (R.I.) on Sunday afternoon and finished with a dominant shutout performance over 7 2/3 innings of work. The 35-year-old gave up two hits and fanned three batters. He threw 84 pitches while matching zeros with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RHP Phil Hughes in the International League playoff game, won 2-0 by the Yankees farm team. Colon was activated from the 60-day disabled list and optioned to Pawtucket prior to the start. He is expected to make a big-league start in a Sept. 13 doubleheader against the Blue Jays.
--RHP David Aardsma will make a rehab appearance for short-season Lowell on Tuesday in a New York-Penn League playoff game, manager Terry Francona told reporters. Aardsma has been sidelined since mid-July with a strained right groin.
BY THE NUMBERS: 455 -- Consecutive home sellouts for the Red Sox as of the Sept. 3 game at Fenway Park. The sellout streak tied the major league record set by the Indians from 1995-2001.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "We're in a good position. I feel like if I can just play good baseball these last few weeks, hopefully we're in the playoffs, we can get hot and see if we can do something special again." -- 3B Mike Lowell.
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