Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield doesn't usually experience too much arm pain with such an effortless delivery. But that hasn't stopped his back from hurting.
"We had a little bit of an issue with Wake's back that we had to keep an eye on. We needed to make sure that he was OK," manager Terry Francona said.

"We also have [Craig] Hansen that's been somewhat stretched out to back up Wake [on Friday]," Francona added.

Wakefield has pitched well in his past couple games, allowing three runs in seven innings in his last start at Detroit on Saturday and no runs in eight innings before that against Tampa Bay on May 28. However, he has lost three of his last four.

Wakefield is 4-7 this season partly because of a lack of run support. The Red Sox have scored just 3.8 runs per game with Wakefield on the mound. Meanwhile, the Red Sox average 5.4 runs per game.

Boston snapped its two-game losing streak at the hands of the Yankees with a 9-3 win on Thursday night and moved to within a half-game of the division leaders.

Coco Crisp, who will largely be in charge of setting up and scoring those runs, will be making only his second appearance at Fenway Park. The leadoff man returned from the 15-day designated list for only one game at home on May 28 after missing 42 games with a fractured left index finger.