Marco Scutaro

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff Marco Scutaro is the latest player to be felled by sickness. He is out of the lineup and Drew Sutton is in.

As The Shortstop Position Turns. It was a revolving door at Fenway Park under former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, and it looks as though that may be the case again under Ben Cherington, who last night traded veteran Marco Scutaro to the Colorado Rockies for 26-year-old righthander Clayton Mortensen, who will be thrown into the starting rotation competition. "Marco, last year, played very well, especially the last couple of months of the season, and I know Ben felt the same way," said manager Bobby Valentine.

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff SEATTLE — Marco Scutaro also has a stiff back and now Mike Aviles is playing third base with Jed Lowrie moving to shortstop. Meanwhile, the great Bill Russell was in the game visiting with Terry Francona. Russell lives in this area. Mayor Tom Menino — apparently en route to Alaska — also was hanging out.

Now that he is an established player, Marco Scutaro is sure to have a different relationship with Bobby Valentine than he did the first time around. Scutaro could not be reached for comment yesterday regarding Valentine becoming the new manager of the Red Sox. But while watching Valentine on ESPN one day last August, he told an interesting story about their first encounter. Scutaro was called up to the Mets in 2002, arriving in Cincinnati the night before his first game. He saw Valentine in the team hotel and went over to introduce himself.

The Denver Post is reporting the Red Sox and Rockies are discussing a deal that would send Marco Scutaro to Colorado to play second base and hit second in the lineup. No other details at the moment. Sox GM Ben Cherington responded via text: "Nothing to report. " We'll keep tracking this.

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff Marco Scutaro was packing up after the game, preparing for a trip to North Carolina tomorrow morning to join Triple A Pawtucket for an injury rehab assignment. Scutaro, out since May 12 with a strained muscle on the left side of his rib cage, took batting practice on the field today and felt fine. "It should just be a couple of days with Pawtucket, maybe until Monday," he said. "I feel good and ready to go. " Meanwhile, as expected, Daisuke Matsuzaka will travel to California next week for...

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Even though he has a knack for game-winning hits, Marco Scutaro thought he had no chance. Not against Mariano Rivera. Not with an .050 batting average this year. Then, with one stunning swing against one of baseball's best closers, Scutaro gave the Oakland Athletics their first series victory of the season. He hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning, rallying the A's to a 5-4 win over the New York Yankees yesterday. "I don't know about this one," Scutaro said.

Now that he is an established player, Marco Scutaro is sure to have a different relationship with Bobby Valentine than he did the first time around. Scutaro could not be reached for comment yesterday regarding Valentine becoming the new manager of the Red Sox. But while watching Valentine on ESPN one day last August, he told an interesting story about their first encounter. Scutaro was called up to the Mets in 2002, arriving in Cincinnati the night before his first game. He saw Valentine in the team hotel and went over to introduce himself.

Jason Giambi was the American League Player of the Month when he batted .355 with 24 RBIs in July. In August, he found himself locked in slumps of 0 for 21 and 4 for 38. The good Giambi made an appearance yesterday at New York with two home runs and a single, driving in seven runs in the Yankees' 10-3 victory over Kansas City. The spurt pushed Giambi past two personal milestones -- 1,500 hits and 1,000 RBIs. Giambi's 22d home run came in the third inning against loser Zack Greinke (3-16)

Alex Rodriguez hit three home runs in his first three at-bats and became only the 11th major league player with 10 or more RBIs in a game, leading the Yankees over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 12-4, last night in New York. Each of his home runs came with two outs against Bartolo Colon (3-2) in the first four innings and drew rousing ovations from the Yankees' fans, who have been reluctant to embrace the $252 million star since he was acquired before the 2004 season. "Definitely tonight was one of those magical nights," Rodriguez said.

New Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington made his first move since his promotion, picked up the contract option on shortstop Marco Scutaro on Sunday The Red Sox will pay $6 million for Scutaro, who helped stabilize a position that seemed to be in perpetual flux since Nomar Garciaparra was traded away in the World Series championship season of 2004. Before Scutaro arrived, general manager Theo Epstein churned through seven regular shortstops in five seasons. But Epstein, who left this month to take over the Chicago Cubs, stabilized the position when he signed Scutaro...

In the final weeks of the season, Blue Jays right-hander Brandon Morrow is stumbling toward the finish line. Edwin Encarnacion hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning and Toronto rallied to deny Tim Wakefield his 200th career win, beating the Boston Red Sox 11-10 on Wednesday night. Shawn Camp (4-3) pitched one inning for the win and Frank Francisco survived a two-run ninth to record his 13th save in 17 chances. The late rally took Morrow off the hook for what would have been his fourth straight loss.

TORONTO - Accustomed to hitting at the bottom of the Red Sox order, in which he's made 45 starts out of the No. 9 hole this season, Marco Scutaro said one thought came to mind when he arrived at Rogers Centre for last night's game against the Blue Jays and found out he was the sixth hitter in Terry Francona's lineup. "Are we trying today?" Scutaro joked, as he stood surrounded by reporters in front of his locker in the visitors' clubhouse. Scutaro found himself in the spotlight not only for making his second start this season in the sixth spot, but for flourishing in it. He helped spearhead a 20-hit...

It took more than three years, but Dustin McGowan completed his long road back to the major leagues. The Blue Jays right-hander returned to the mound Tuesday, pitching four innings of relief in Toronto's 14-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox. McGowan was pitching in the majors for the first time since July 8, 2008. The oft-injured pitcher had been sidelined by two shoulder surgeries and one knee surgery over the past three seasons. Coming in from the bullpen after so long away, with the crowd of 17,565 giving him a standing ovation, was an emotional...

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff SEATTLE — Marco Scutaro also has a stiff back and now Mike Aviles is playing third base with Jed Lowrie moving to shortstop. Meanwhile, the great Bill Russell was in the game visiting with Terry Francona. Russell lives in this area. Mayor Tom Menino — apparently en route to Alaska — also was hanging out.

MINNEAPOLIS - The Red Sox did not leave Fenway Park until close to 1:30 a.m. yesterday, about an hour after they finished off a satisfying 3-2 victory against the Yankees. Josh Reddick won the game with an RBI single in the 10th inning off Phil Hughes , the ball landing in left field deep enough to score pinch runner Darnell McDonald from second base. It was a game with several interesting subplots. Winning pitcher Daniel Bard pitched a scoreless 10th to get the win, retiring the Yankees in order.

NEW YORK - Joba Chamberlain struggled with his control, walked off the mound in the third inning, and threw his glove in the dugout. His first major league start was a memorable one, all right. Just not for the reasons he'd hoped. Chamberlain lasted 2 1/3 innings and Roy Halladay held the New York Yankees in check despite some control problems of his own, leading the Toronto Blue Jays to a 9-3 victory last night. "I wanted to get my team a lot deeper into the game and it wasn't very good," Chamberlain said.