BOSTON -- The Red Sox lineup got a boost that was shortlived during Monday night's 6-4 loss to the Blue Jays at Fenway Park when sparkplug Eduardo Nunez -- who had sprained the PCL ligament in his right knee on Sept. 9 -- aggravated the injury and exited after two at-bats. He is considered day to day.
Nunez roped a double into right-center in his first at-bat back, putting the knee to the test as he raced into second to beat the throw. He later scored from third on Hanley Ramirez's groundout.

In his second at-bat, the good vibes came to a screeching halt after Nunez got his spike caught on a swing and collapsed in pain in the batter's box after fouling a pitch into the stands. Red Sox personnel, including John Farrell, came out to check on Nunez, who was able to convince his manager to let him stay in the game before lining out to Josh Donaldson at third base.

Following the at-bat, the Red Sox designated hitter limped back to the dugout and into the clubhouse. Sam Travis replaced him in the lineup.
"We thought it was more ready than it was," Nunez said. "I'm going to keep working, keep positive and in three more days try again."
Farrell said things were "day to day at this point."
"We didn't expect that it was going to be that tough," Nunez said. "So, we're going to shut down for a few more days, we're going to keep working, do my treatment and hopefully in the series with Houston, try again."
Added Farrell: "His spike got caught on the swing. We saw what his reaction was, a little aggravation of the injury that he's coming back from. We don't feel like there was added damage. He just aggravated it."
Nunez is hitting .313 with 20 extra-base hits and 27 RBIs in 38 games since arriving in Boston, providing versatility by filling in at second base, third base and shortstop. While the knee injury was a blow to the lineup, the team managed to go 10-3 during Nunez's absence.