With a little more than two weeks to go in the season, the Red Sox have run out of starting pitchers.
It's happened before. In 2006, the Red Sox were bringing in the likes of Jason Johnson and Kevin Jarvis off the street in the final month to take regular turns on the mound for a depleted staff.
Of the five starters the Red Sox opened the season with, three are gone: Justin Masterson was released and Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly are out with injuries. Kelly made his final start Tuesday night, exiting with shoulder tightness, and returned to Boston Wednesday for further tests.
That leaves Wade Miley and Rick Porcello as the only starters remaining in the rotation that started the season.
Along the way, Steven Wright has been sidelined with a concussion and seems unlikely to pitch again. Brian Johnson, who otherwise would have gotten a late-season look, is in Fort Myers, working through a shoulder issue. Factor in that the Sox want to limit innings for Eduardo Rodriguez - he may only start one more game this season -- and the Sox are short.
Currently, the rotation consists of Porcello, Miley, Rodriguez, Henry Owens and Rich Hill.
But Thursday is also the last scheduled off day. After that, the Red Sox play 17 games in a row without a day off. If Rodriguez makes only one more start, where do the Red Sox turn?
Indications are there will be some bullpen games -- games in which a handful of relievers handle an inning or two to stich together a start.
It's safe to say that this is just one more development that no one saw coming at the beginning of the season.