Red Sox trust Workman to start at Fenway

BOSTON -- Brandon Workman, fresh off pitching 6 1/3 effective innings against the Oakland Athletics on the final day before the All-Star break, will get his second Major League start on Monday night in the opener of the Red Sox's big four-game series against the surging Tampa Bay Rays.

"As well as he pitched against a very good team in Oakland -- and we're going to have a team that's coming in here as hot as anyone in the game right now -- the one thing that he does is he throws a lot of strikes," Red Sox manager John Farrell said of Workman, who didn't allow the A's a hit until the sixth inning.

Before starting in Oakland, Workman -- Boston's No. 12 prospect, according to MLB.com -- got his feet wet with a relief outing against the Mariners.

"Even in the first inning in Seattle, he got squared up, but he didn't fear the strike zone," Farrell said. "He didn't start to walk people just because there was some loud contact. He went out and had a very good second inning, and I think that second inning kind of set the ability to walk off the mound knowing he put up a zero. It carried into the game against Oakland.

"I think the one thing that we're learning, at least at the Major League staff, is that this is a guy who has kind of quiet confidence about him and doesn't fear the setting in which he's performing."