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List Of Injured Red Sox Players Grows

With his right foot in a cast,  Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek watches the first inning against the Orioles at Fenway Park , Friday.(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
With his right foot in a cast, Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek watches the first inning against the Orioles at Fenway Park , Friday.(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

The Boston Red Sox are putting together a rather impressive roster - on their disabled list.

The latest additions to a group that features five former All-Stars among its 10 players are catcher Jason Varitek and right-handed reliever Manny Delcarmen. They were placed on the 15-day DL on Friday night before the Red Sox put together a makeshift lineup against the Baltimore Orioles.

Center fielder Mike Cameron was scratched from the lineup before the game because abdominal soreness and replaced by Darnell McDonald.

Varitek is expected to miss four to six weeks after breaking a bone in his right foot Wednesday night on a foul ball by Tampa Bay's Carl Crawford in the seventh inning of the Rays' 9-4 win. Just two days earlier, starting catcher Victor Martinez fractured his left thumb. He is expected to come off the disabled list soon after the All-Star break.

Delcarmen has a strained forearm and could be activated as soon as he's eligible.

The Red Sox called up righty reliever Robert Manuel and infielder Niuman Romero from Triple-A Pawtucket.

That disabled list already included second baseman Dustin Pedroia (2007 AL rookie of the year and 2008 AL MVP), right-hander Josh Beckett (2003 World Series MVP and 2007 major league leader with 20 wins), third baseman Mike Lowell (2007 World Series MVP), outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury (2009 major league leader with 70 stolen bases), backup outfielder Jeremy Hermida, shortstop Jed Lowrie and right-hander Junichi Tazawa.

The former All-Stars are Martinez, Pedroia, Beckett, Lowell and Varitek.

Despite losing their top players, the Red Sox entered Friday night's game with a 47-32 record, third best in the majors and one game behind the New York Yankees, who lead the AL East.

"We're in a good spot and that's the good thing," Varitek said. "Losing a couple of guys, having to adjust with that and then move from there. There's a reason we are where we're at because we've had contributions from a lot of people."

Friday's starting lineup included six players who were not on the team last year and three - McDonald, left fielder Eric Patterson and catcher Kevin Cash - who did not start the season with the Red Sox.

After Varitek was hurt, the Red Sox obtained Cash from the Houston Astros for infielder Angel Sanchez on Thursday night. Cash played 73 total games with Boston in 2007 and 2008 when he was knuckleballer Tim Wakefield's personal catcher. He was behind the plate for Wakefield's start Friday.

Cash, a light hitting, good fielding catcher, is the "perfect guy" to fill in, manager Terry Francona said.

Varitek's injury, a minimally displaced fracture of the second metatarsal on the top of his foot, is similar to the one sustained by Pedroia, although it involved a different bone, Francona said. Pedroia broke a bone in his left foot when he fouled a ball off it on June 25 at San Francisco.

On the bright side, Beckett, on the disabled list since May 19 with a lower back strain, is scheduled to pitch in a Gulf Coast rookie league game on Tuesday with a limit of about 55 pitches.

And Clay Buchholz (10-4) could start Monday at Tampa Bay after leaving last Saturday's game at San Francisco after one inning with a strained left hamstring.

Manuel was 4-1 at Pawtucket with a 1.54 ERA and eight saves in eight opportunities. Romero hit .268 with two homers and 13 RBIs in 51 games since being acquired from the Cleveland Indians on April 30.

This program aired on July 3, 2010. The audio for this program is not available.

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