HOUSTON -- The hope earlier in the week was that Mookie Betts would be back in the Red Sox' lineup by the time the team's four-game set at Minute Maid Park kicked off. No such luck.
Betts will have to wait at least one more day before returning to action for the first time since Saturday, still nursing a sore left side.
"More baseball activity today. He did a few things inside. He played catch. He's going to be in the outfield during batting practice, see how he reacts and we'll see tomorrow," said Red Sox Alex Cora, who had mentioned to the Dale & Keefe Show earlier Thursday that he was going to meet with Betts before making any definitive decision regarding a Thursday night appearance.
"I do feel with the roster we have, we're OK. We're flexible enough we can pay Blake, we can play J.D., we can play Brock. We're good."
When asked if Cora was optimistic that Betts would be available at some point before the Red Sox leave town he said, "That's the goal. That's the goal."
The Sox manager continued to downplay the injury, which hasn't been classified as an oblique ailment but seems to be in the spot where such a thing would reside.
"Honestly, we feel that if this is late in the season, he would be leading off today," Cora said. "It makes no sense for us to push him. We've been taking care of guys from Day 1 of spring training."
The Red Sox have won three of the last four games without Betts, with the team hitting a combined .297 with an .897 OPS. Filling in at the top of the batting order, Andrew Benintendi has hit .412 with a 1.268 OPS in the right fielder's absence.
