Major League Baseball

Red Sox CF Ellsbury back on DL

Published Aug. 15, 2010 12:41 a.m. ET

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Boston Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday for the third time this season with more pain in his left side.

Today, we may find out if he's done for the season.

The team is expected to make a decision after he returns from Los Angeles, where he reportedly had an exam that revealed a possible rib fracture, according to an ESPN report.

Ellsbury collided with Texas pitcher Tommy Hunter at first base after he led off Friday night's game with a roller down the line. Ellsbury underwent MRI and CT scans on Saturday in Boston, and was diagnosed with bruising on the left side of his rib cage.

He was in only his ninth game back from the disabled list after missing 58 games because of broken ribs on his left side. He had missed 37 games during an earlier DL stint for a similar injury.

''There's a line, a faint line (from the exams) at the fracture site, but it's just impossible to tell; new, incomplete healing?'' manager Terry Francona said before the Red Sox faced the Rangers. ''You just have to go on the symptoms.''

The Red Sox initially planned to send Ellsbury to California to be examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum, but they couldn't get an appointment with Yocum until Tuesday, so Ellsbury flew back to Boston.

Francona had Eric Patterson in center field for Saturday night's game against Texas, and he said Darnell McDonald and possibly Ryan Kalish also will be used at the position while Ellsbury is out.

Right-hander Michael Bowden was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket to take Ellsbury's roster spot.

Ellsbury hit .301 in 153 games last season, but he's batting .192 with no homers and five RBIs in 18 games this season.

Boston second baseman Jed Lowrie also was out of the lineup after leaving Friday night's game because of the extreme heat.

''I've played some games in high school and summer ball when it got pretty hot but professionally, that's probably the hottest I've ever played in,'' he said Saturday.

The Red Sox announced minor league catcher Michael Thomas was sent to the Rangers as the player to be named in the July 31 trade that moved catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia from Texas to Boston.

Texas assigned the right-handed throwing Thomas to its spring training facility in Arizona to convert him into a pitcher.

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