Victorino gets breather to prepare for October

BALTIMORE -- Shane Victorino received the news from manager John Farrell that he wouldn't be playing on Friday night via text message. Victorino typed back as fast as he could, trying to change Farrell's mind.

But it didn't work. With three games left in the regular season, Farrell wants to get his team as healthy as possible before the big games start in October.

Victorino has been bothered in recent weeks by a right thumb injury -- his latest in a season's worth of nagging maladies.

"When he texted me today, I said, 'No, I want in.' [Farrell] said, 'Let's try to get ahead of this thumb thing.' So I understand the situation," Victorino said. "Whatever, I'll be back in there tomorrow and the next day and be ready to go."

Considering the solid season Victorino has had both offensively and defensively, it's hard to believe he's had so many injuries.

But now that the finish line is near, he will continue to play through everything as best he can.

"This has been one of those years where they've been nagging," Victorino said. "I've had injuries in the past where I've gone on the DL, but once I've come back, I've been healthy, 100 percent. That's, I think, to me, what's been frustrating.

"The lingering effects of the hammy, now hitting righty on righty, the back, and now the thumb ... it's like, 'Geez, can anything else go?' But I don't feel sorry for myself."

Victorino looks around the clubhouse and sees a bunch of like-minded players.

"There are a lot of guys banged up," Victorino said. "Pedroia has been battling a thumb injury all year long. I could go on and on. To sit here and talk about my own injuries ... for me, it fires me up because I want to go back out there. Whatever I have, I'm going to leave it all on the field."

While Victorino was out of the mix for the night, Jacoby Ellsbury remained in the lineup for the second straight game since coming back from a compression fracture in his right foot.

And Mike Napoli, who sat out four straight games after the Red Sox clinched the American League East, was back in there Friday. He has been dealing with plantar fasciitis.

"Based on how he was talking in the clubhouse before the game, he feels fresh, he feels like he's gotten over some of the soreness in the foot, and as I said the other day, we hope it has the same effect with the previous rest that he's had," Farrell said. "The one thing that we discussed internally, with the downtime, this should allow him to get through the rest of the season, whatever remains, in good shape."