RED SOX : News & Notes April 7,2014.

RED SOX : NEWS & NOTES
April 7,2014.






~Brock Holt arrives : By the time Brock Holt arrived at Fenway Park on Sunday morning, he was still listed in the lineup for Triple-A Pawtucket, batting leadoff and playing second. But there he was in the Red Sox clubhouse, hurriedly getting dressed and accepting greetings from teammates happy to see him back in Boston.Holt was recalled with Will Middlebrooks going to the 15-day disabled list with a right calf strain, and while Holt doesn't quite know how much he'll play, he'll be ready when his name is called."I'm happy to be here," he said. "I feel great. … However they want to use me up here, I'm going to try to help any way I can."Holt was off to a strong start through three games with Pawtucket -- 4-for-11 with two doubles and two walks -- while playing the middle infield positions.He hasn't played much third early on, but does not expect that to be an issue, the sense of comfort due in part to it being his second season with the organization. This time last year, he was getting his feet under him with a new team learning a new position. This time around, there is a much greater sense of familiarity.
"I haven't gotten as many reps at third this year as opposed to last year, but the times I was over there in Spring Training I felt comfortable," Holt said. "I felt like I had actually played there before, as opposed to last year, when I had no idea what was going on."It wasn't too comfortable last year. This year I felt a lot better. It helped me in Spring Training, just being around the guys again and going into the season as well."The Sunday drive was Holt's second trip to Fenway in three days, the first coming to take part in the World Series ring ceremony Friday."The other day when we got to come up was a great experience, an awesome day to be a part of, something I won't forget for a long time," Holt said.

~Monitoring Carp :Mike Carp, who is dealing with back tightness, was available off the bench Sunday. He was scratched from the lineup Saturday, but wound up playing first base in extra innings.
"We're monitoring it and he's going to have some management of it," Farrell said. "But not to the extent of taking him away from us."

~Managing Sizemore's time : The Red Sox are continuing to manage center fielder Grady Sizemore's workload, slotting Jackie Bradley Jr. in center for the day game after a night game, but Sizemore was also available if needed.

~Decision coming for Breslow : Left-handed reliever Craig Breslow will make one more rehab appearance with Triple-A Pawtucket on Monday before the team reassesses when to activate him. If he's not ready, though, the Red Sox won't rush him."We feel like we've got a very good relief corps that is currently with us," manager John Farrell said. "The overall strike-throwing ability of the group down there is very good. And when you're pressed into using four and five guys on a given night, the ability to have two guys who can go multiple innings is key for us."It puts a little bit of strain and stress on the day following, which is where we are today, but we're comfortable with where we are right now."

~'Scratch' the Red Sox : David Ortiz is heading to New Hampshire to promote a Boston Red Sox scratch ticket.The New Hampshire Lottery is bringing back the $5 ticket, which will be sold at 1,250 locations statewide and features a $75,000 top prize. Ortiz will join Red Sox executive Sam Kennedy, Gov. Maggie Hassan, lottery officials and the Red Sox mascot ‘‘Wally the Green Monster’’ outside the Statehouse Monday.The Red Sox 2013 World Series trophy also will be on display.

~Samsung 'In Trouble' for Obama 'selfie' : Apparently the White House wasn't too pleased to hear about David Ortiz's endorsement deal with Samsung that may have been related to his selfie with President Barack Obama.The picture was taken at the White House during the Boston Red Sox's trip to celebrate the 2013 World Series last Tuesday. The picture was taken with a Samsung phone and promoted by the company's Twitter page.Ortiz didn't think it was a big deal, but White House officials are taking it seriously, said Dan Pfeiffer, a senior adviser to Obama, on CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday.Pfeiffer said the president "obviously didn't know anything about Samsung's connection to this. And perhaps maybe this will be the end of all selfies. But in general, whenever someone tries to use the president's likeness to promote a product, that's a problem with the White House."Asked about the subject by Boston reporters after the Red Sox's 4-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, Ortiz said only, "I got no comment on that. I mean, I'm just a guy that I got signed by Samsung in the offseason. Not too much I can say about it. I'm trying to focus on baseball right now, and just move on. Samsung has a lot of money and the White House has a lot of money, too. They'll be cool with each other."

~Red Sox lose first challenge : History of a sort was made at Fenway Park Sunday, with the Red Sox coming out on the short end.Manager John Farrell tested baseball's new replay system for the first time when first-base umpire Tim Timmons called Jackie Bradley Jr. out at first. Farrell asked for a replay after the play at first base in the second inning.After a delay of 1 minute, 38 seconds, the replay ruling upheld the call.

~K-2-1-3 : Aramis Ramirez' strikeout in the third inning went down in the scorebook as K-2-1-3. The Milwaukee DH swung at the third-strike pitch, which bounced in front of catcher David Ross.Pitcher Jon Lester retrieved it and threw Ramirez out. Official scorer Chaz Scoggins said he had never seen such a play in 37 years of scoring.