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Dustin Pedroia returns to DL with renewed swelling in knee

MLB, Boston Red Sox

After one game and four at-bats, Dustin Pedroia is heading right back to the disabled list for a third time this season.

The Boston Red Sox announced Pedroia's move to the 10-day DL on Saturday because of left knee inflammation and recalled left-hander Robby Scott from Triple-A Pawtucket. The Pedroia move is retroactive to Wednesday.

Pedroia didn't play in Boston's 5-4 loss to the New York Yankees on Friday night, the first of a pivotal three-game series. According to manager John Farrell, the veteran second baseman is dealing with a recurrence of swelling and inflammation in his surgically repaired left knee and didn't respond favorably to treatment.

Pedroia returned Tuesday at Tampa Bay for the first time since July 28 but did not play Wednesday night at Tampa Bay.

"I understand what the deal is," Pedroia said Saturday. "I went through a full workday and felt fine and felt like I could do it. Got through the game and then the next day it wasn't too good. But I was prepared for that. They told me that was a possibility."

"His knee has flared up on him," Farrell said. "Our goal was to get him some at-bats [at Tampa Bay] before this series. He's shown a little bit of a pushback in terms of the reaction to it."

Pedroia offered few details about the setback or a new timetable for his potential return except to say that he believes he will play again this season.

"I hope so, yeah," Pedroia said. "That's what we're working towards, man. I think the best thing right now is just kind of rest and let it calm down. I know it's the wrong time for that, but it's just the situation we're in. Once it calms down, I'll be out there as fast as I can."

Pedroia, who turns 34 on Thursday, had arthroscopic knee surgery after last season. The issue cropped up again in April when Baltimore Orioles star Manny Machado slid hard into Pedroia's knee. Last month, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski referred to Pedroia's "bad knee" as something the Red Sox are "going to have to watch for the rest of his career."

Pedroia is with the team in New York but has been consulting with Dr. Andreas Gomoll, a Boston-area knee specialist.

In Pedroia's absence, utility infielder Eduardo Nunez has gotten most of the playing time at second base. The Red Sox acquired Nunez in a July 26 trade with the San Francisco Giants, and through 11 games with Boston, the ex-Yankee is batting .420 (21-for-50) with six doubles and four home runs.

"He was swinging the bat well in San Francisco prior to the trade and hasn't stopped," Farrell said. "He's jumped right in and hit anywhere from first to fourth in the lineup and there's consistent hard contact. He has been a huge boost to our offense that, quite frankly, in July we were scuffling to score some runs. He's injected some energy."

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