"Dustin Pedroia apparently suffered nothing worse than a twisted left ankle and a briefly numb leg after slipping on a wet second base in the eighth inning of last night's 3-2 Red Sox loss to the Cleveland Indians.

Pedroia was going to be given tonight off anyway, manager Terry Francona said, so unless the second baseman encounters an unexpected setback or the ankle injury is worse than is currently believed, he's expected to be back in the lineup for tomorrow's series finale at Progressive Field.

Immediately after the injury, Pedroia lay on the infield as Sox personnel rushed out to see what had happened.

Because the team's No.?2 hitter broke his left foot last July and still has a surgically inserted pin in it, Francona said, "We all were kind of holding our breath a little when it happened."

Pedroia knew the injury wasn't serious. He was waiting for the numbness to subside.

"I was just trying to get the feeling back, that's the part that was weird — it was numb," Pedroia said.

Pedroia said he felt a sensation like a "stinger" shooting up the leg, the second time this season that happened.

On April 21 in Anaheim, Calif., Pedroia slid hard into second base in the second inning against the Los Angeles Angels and felt the same thing, but he was able to stay in the ballgame."