Arms buildup continues with deal for Johnson

Though surprising and gratifying, Kyle Snyder's win Monday wasn't enough to keep him in the starting rotation. Or even with the major league club.

Instead, the Red Sox yesterday opted for a castoff from a slightly more successful team in picking up Jason Johnson from the Indians and naming him their July 1 starter, and sending Snyder, who last played for the Royals, to Triple A Pawtucket.

With Jeremy Sowers (9-1, 1.39 ERA) at Triple A Buffalo, Johnson was expendable to the Indians, who designated him for assignment Tuesday. Yesterday they sent him to Boston with cash considerations for a player to be named later or cash. Due $3.5 million this season and $4 million next year with a $500,000 buyout, Johnson stands to fill in for the Sox' injured starters (Matt Clement, David Wells, and Lenny DiNardo), who remain on the disabled list without a return date in sight.

``He's a ground-ball pitcher," general manager Theo Epstein said of Johnson. ``There have been a lot of balls that have gotten through the infield. We hope that our infield defense -- which we think is pretty good -- might help him out a little bit. We're buying low on Jason Johnson. This guy is a major league starting pitcher. He's had a bad couple months, because of that the acquisition cost is extremely low.

``Given the market for starting pitching and our need because of our depth, this makes a lot of sense. Six days ago, we're in a situation where if we have another starting pitcher go down, we're just about out of bodies. We would have to force prospects into situations we don't think they're ready for. Now we've got Snyder and we've got Johnson without giving up anything."

Effectively, the Indians and Red Sox will be splitting what the 32-year-old Johnson is due the remainder of the season, with the Sox on the hook for his 2007 salary or buyout.

Johnson's 2006 record stands at 3-8 with a 5.96 ERA. He also has the third-highest ground ball to fly ball ratio in the American League (2.85 to 1) but the third-highest opponents' batting average against (.341).

With their second extra-large pitching acquisition in a week -- Johnson stands 6 feet 6 inches; Snyder is 6-8 -- the Sox have brought in someone who has been known for piling up innings in parts of 10 years in the big leagues. The righthander from Santa Barbara, Calif., has pitched at least 189 innings in four of his last five seasons.

``He's always exhibited real good stuff," said manager Terry Francona. ``He can sink with some velocity. He's got a breaking ball. I think this is kind of one where [our] pitching's gotten nicked up. We got a chance if somebody else gets nicked up to be swimming the wrong way up the stream. I think Theo did a good job. We got somebody who can go out there. There's a decent chance this guy's going to come in here and pitch well. I know he's had a little bit of a tough time this year, but that doesn't mean he's going to [here]."

Curious as to who takes on the backup duties at first base, now that J.T. Snow has been designated for assignment (excluding designated hitter extraordinaire David Ortiz)? That would be second baseman Mark Loretta. Thinking both Loretta and third baseman Mike Lowell had experience at the position, Francona called a minor conference in the dugout around the fifth inning Tuesday night to determine the better of the two. Loretta claimed the title with 160 games at first over his career and a .993 fielding percentage at the position. Lowell has never played there in the majors.

David Ortiz's second-inning grand slam was the fifth of his career. Though one of them came as a member of the Twins, all of them have come at Fenway Park. That puts Ortiz in pretty select company, as one of only three major leaguers to have at least five slams, all at the same place. Cecil Cooper (1971-89) had five at Milwaukee's County Stadium, and Ken Williams (1915-29) had five at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. ``You got to love hitting with the bases loaded up here, I guess," said Ortiz, who had no idea of the stat.

As for where Nationals manager Frank Robinson's mind was as Ortiz stepped to the plate: ``What am I thinking? Don't let him hit a grand slam."

With his ground out in the first inning, Jason Varitek is now 3 for 18 on the season with the bases loaded, including 2 for 13 with two outs.

Clement threw at 60 feet Tuesday and was scheduled to throw again yesterday, at a slightly longer distance. He's working on building arm strength, given his long layoff . . . Dustan Mohr, designated for assignment last Friday, opted for free agency rather than accept an assignment to Pawtucket . . . The Red Sox now have 12 or more hits in five straight games for the first time since June 7-12, 2003 . . . With the intentional walk to Ortiz and the resulting double from Manny Ramírez in the sixth inning, Red Sox batters are now 7 for 15 (.467) with two doubles, one home run, and 10 RBIs after an intentional walk, according to statistician Chuck Waseleski . . . The Aug. 12 game against the Orioles has been changed from a 7:05 p.m. start to a 1:25 p.m. start to be broadcast on Fox.

Chris Snow and Christopher L. Gasper of the Globe staff contributed to this report. SOX SCENES For photos from last night's game, go to www.boston.com/redsox