Blue Jays
Manager John Gibbons said 1B Edwin Encarnacion (strained right quadriceps) has resumed hitting and will try running again in a few days. Encarnacion has been out since July 6 and was recently shut down after suffering a setback in his rehab.
Orioles
The Orioles have not won a division title since 1997, but manager Buck Showalter has kept the team in postseason contention the last three seasons. With the collapse of the Yankees and the Red Sox this season, it looks as if the wait might finally be over for the Orioles, thanks in large part to Nelson Cruz, who has picked up the offensive slack caused by the regression of Chris Davis.
Rays
C Ryan Hanigan (left oblique) isn’t any closer to rejoining the team. A day after Hanigan went 1-for-3 at DH in a rehab assignment for advanced Class A Charlotte, the Rays shut him down for a week. “We just want to make sure that this is right,” manager Joe Maddon told the Tampa Bay Times. “He’s still sore. We don’t want to push it.” Hanigan had hoped he’d be ready to come off the DL on Friday. The Rays haven’t announced a timetable for his return, and they continue to be cautious about rushing him back too quickly from his second stint on the DL this season. … Outfielder Wil Myers, on the 60-day DL recovering from a broken right wrist, went through an extensive workout and drills in Port Charlotte, Fla.
Red Sox
The last time they had a fire sale midseason was in 2012 when the dealt Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez and their bloated contracts to the Dodgers. The next season they won the World Series. This time Boston picks up Cespedes for Lester, who was heading for free agency after extension talks never went anywhere. They also traded Lester’s buddy John Lackey to the Cardinals for first baseman Allen Craig and right-hander Joe Kelly. Craig is having an awful season, but there is no better place to help a slumping right-hander than Fenway Park.
Yankees
“My shoulder is really strong; it’s healed,” pitcher Michael Pineda told Newsday after his first rehab start with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. “I’m very happy and I’m ready to go now.” There have been false starts before in Pineda’s rehab process and this 58-pitch outing, of course, was only one step for the right-hander, who has been on the disabled since May 6 with shoulder trouble. But all indications, for now, are that Pineda is on track to return to the Yankees soon. He insisted he was pain-free after allowing three hits and a walk and striking out four in 3 1/3 scoreless innings against the Syracuse Chiefs at PNC Field.
Compiled by Rick Crotts from wire reports.
