Red Sox place Dustin Pedroia on 15-day DL with hamstring injury

The Boston Red Sox placed second baseman Dustin Pedroia on the 15-day disabled list with a right hamstring injury.

The Boston Red Sox placed second baseman Dustin Pedroia on the 15-day disabled list with a right hamstring injury, the team announced Thursday. Pedroia left Wednesday’s 5–1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in the sixth inning after grabbing his right hamstring when he was rounding first base after a two-run scoring single, breaking a 1-1 tie.

In corresponding roster moves, the team promoted outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr., infielder Deven Marrero and pitcher Jonathan Aro from Triple-A Pawtucket in time for the series finale against Baltimore on Thursday. Boston also demoted pitcher Joe Kelly to Pawtucket and designated catcher Erik Kratz for assignment.

Bradley will bat ninth and play rightfield in Thursday’s game and Brock Holt will take Pedroia's place at second. Right-hander Justin Masterson will take Kelly's place in the rotation and start on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Awards Watch: Kipnis jumps into AL MVP lead, Harper still topping NL

Pedroia had been dealing with soreness in his left knee for the last week.

Pedroia, 31, is hitting .306 with nine home runs and 33 RBIs this season for the Red Sox (32–41), including batting at a .350 clip in the month of the June. He leads the team in batting average, total bases, on-base percentage and hits.

Entering Thursday, Boston is in last place in the American League East, 8 1/2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays.

- Scooby Axson