"Dustin Pedroia was not with the Red Sox for last night's 8-3 victory at Yankee Stadium, because he returned to get his sore right knee checked out in Boston. The second baseman was found to have only a bone bruise on his kneecap and could return to the lineup in Toronto tonight.

Pedroia had what manager Terry Francona called a "very minimally invasive'' procedure done by team medical director Tom Gill to determine the extent of his cartilage damage.

The Red Sox have a day off Monday, but Francona said the examination was done yesterday at Massachusetts General Hospital because Pedroia complained about the pain.

"It got to the point the other night where it was starting to grab at him a little bit,'' said Francona. "The more we talked, we didn't want to put it off. This is just something to make sure he's OK.''

Pedroia injured his knee May 14, 2010, in Detroit when he tried to score from second on a single by David Ortiz and was thrown out at the plate. He reinjured the knee May 16 of this season at Fenway Park against Baltimore.

In that game, Brian Roberts led off the game with a line drive that struck Daisuke Matsuzaka in the chest and deflected away. Pedroia charged the ball and threw to first while diving and came down on his knee.

"He's got a little bit of a cartilage issue in there,'' said Francona. "We've known that for a long time.''

Pedroia also is playing with a steel screw in his left foot, the result of a broken bone suffered last June. He acknowledged Wednesday that the injuries to his legs have affected his hitting but said he was hoping to finish the season without needing surgery."