Masterson sent down to become reliever; Ortiz takes BP

Red Sox pitcher Justin Masterson will be sent to Triple A Pawtucket this week to become a reliever, Sox manager Terry Francona announced Monday.

Clay Buchholz will return from Pawtucket later this week to take Masterson's spot in the rotation, with his first starting coming Friday against the Orioles. PawSox outfielder Jeff Bailey will take Masterson's roster spot until Buchholz is needed.

“The thinking there is that we wanted to at some point get Clay back here and get him in the rotation, which I think we’ve been alluding to,” Francona said. “We also think getting Justin acclimated to the bullpen has a chance to really help our ballclub.”

Francona said Masterson is scheduled to get some relief innings Wednesday at Richmond, and Friday and Saturday at Norfolk.

In other news…

David Ortiz took some swings in the batting cage before Monday night's game against Minnesota. He hit a home run to right field on his first swing. He did the normal five rounds with about seven swings in the first few rounds and then the swings decreased in the later rounds.

Former catcher Doug Mirabelli was back visiting at Fenway Park Monday. Mirabelli played for Boston for seven years from 2001-2007 and was knuckleballer Tim Wakefield’s personal catcher before being released last offseason.