Major League Baseball

Bosox activate Victor Martinez

Published Jul. 27, 2010 3:35 a.m. ET

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Catcher Victor Martinez was activated from the disabled list on Monday by the Boston Red Sox after missing 22 games because of a minimally displaced break at the tip of the thumb on his glove hand.

The switch-hitting Martinez, sidelined since June 27, entered the opener of a three-game series against the Angels batting .289 with nine homers and 38 RBIs in 66 games. The team went 9-13 in his absense, dropping from two games out of first place in the AL East to eight games off the pace.

''I'm excited,'' said Martinez, who has some extra padding in his glove to absorb the shock when he catches the ball. ''I mean, it's not fun to watch the game from the bench. So it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm just going to go out there and try to have good at-bats, give my best and see what happens.

''If I'm playing, it's because I'm able to go out there and compete,'' Martinez added. ''Even when you're 100 percent, you don't expect to go 4 for 4 because you can't really control what's going to happen after you hit the ball. So I'm not going to put any kind of pressure like that on myself.''

Manager Terry Francona usually had Martinez batting third. But in his first game back, he was sixth in the order and hit an RBI single his first time up against right-hander Dan Haren, who was making his Angels debut.

''He certainly won't be hitting sixth for very long,'' Francona said. ''I didn't think it was real fair to him stick him up there third or fourth. Hopefully we'll get him some games under his belt and then get him back somewhere in the middle''

Dusty Brown, one of four catchers the Red Sox used while Martinez was on the DL, was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket. The Red Sox also outrighted first baseman Aaron Bates to Pawtucket.

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