"Catcher Russell Martin remained out of the lineup for a third straight game due to lower back stiffness, though he's shooting for a Sunday return. "We'll see what happens when I hit and throw [today]," said Martin, who hadn't played since Tuesday. Martin reported improvement, but he still felt "a little bit of discomfort." An MRI on Thursday came back clean.

Manager Joe Girardi still believes the club is fine with just catcher Francisco Cervelli, since Jorge Posada is available as an emergency catcher only. "It'd be different if we didn't have Jorge," Girardi said. Posada has not appeared behind the plate this season. "My hope is he hasn't forgotten."

Earlier Friday, Girardi and bench coach Tony Pena worked on improving Cervelli's throwing technique. Cervelli committed three throwing errors in his last two games, sailing tosses wide of second base on Red Sox' stolen base attempts. Girardi called it a slight mechanical issue."