Drew eyeing return to lineup Saturday night

BOSTON -- Stephen Drew could return to the Red Sox's lineup as soon as Saturday.

The shortstop has been battling right hamstring tightness since exiting Friday's game against the Blue Jays, but manager John Farrell said Drew is making good progress.

"Stephen will run again today and we're getting closer to hopefully staying away from the DL," Farrell said. "We're thinking Saturday might be a day he's back in the starting lineup if he's continues to progress as he has the past couple days, so he's moving in the right direction."

Drew was not placed in on the disabled list with the hope he could make a speedy recovery. In his absence, the Red Sox have carried one less reliever than normal on their roster. Deep outings from the starters have prevented that from being an issue, but if Drew isn't ready to go Saturday, the club will consider making a move.

"He's still in a day-to-day status," Farrell said. "Hopefully we can continue on as we've been, and that is starters going deep in the game where we haven't been forced to tax the bullpen. So that's also factored into this to buy us some time and to go with one less reliever. So that's the plan right now."