Red Sox send down shortstop Tsung-Che Cheng

Rutschman takes a seat, along with Mickey Gasper and Jarren Duran with the Red Sox rolling out a righty-heavy lineup against Angels southpaw Reid Detmers. It’ll be lefty-mashers Jahmai Jones and Andruw Monasterio getting into the lineup with Connor Wong behind the plate. The 28-year-old backstop has been playing through a lingering elbow issue since early September, but it hasn’t forced him to miss too much time.

Since the All-Star break, Gasper is hitting .327/.514/.865 with eight home runs, 12 runs scored, and 15 RBI. Despite being a switch-hitter, Gasper will get a day off against lefty Reid Detmers, with Nick Sogard playing first base and batting fifth and Andruw Monasterio starting at second base and batting seventh.

Story added that he’s feels fine from a physical standpoint after kicking off a minor league rehab assignment over the weekend. The 33-year-old veteran shortstop has missed the entirety of Boston’s remarkable midseason turnaround while recovering from sports hernia surgery. It sounds like he could return later this week after getting a few additional rehab games under his belt. Andruw Monasterio has done a remarkable job handling shortstop for the Red Sox over the last few weeks.

Monasterio led off the 10th with his sixth homer of the year. There was certainly no plan for him becoming Boston’s starting shortstop at the beginning of the year, but he’s been quite valuable in hitting .259/.320/.459 in 204 plate appearances. Barring a big trade acquisition, he should continue to play regularly until Trevor Story returns and maybe beyond that.

Monasterio came up with the bases loaded against Devin Williams in the ninth and worked a walk even after declining to challenge a called strike on a clear ball to begin the at-bat. That gave the Red Sox their first run before Jarren Duran tied the game with a shallow flyball. Before that, Monasterio had Boston’s only extra-base hit of the game off Zach Thornton. He’s 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBI the last two days, raising his OPS from .629 to .694. The win was Boston’s ninth in a row, with sweeps over the Angels, White Sox and Mets. It’s the first time since 1977 that they’ve gone 9-0 on a road trip.

Monasterio homered off Freddy Peralta in the fourth to start the scoring. That proved to be sufficient for Boston’s pitching staff, but the Red Sox did get some insurance in the form of another two-run homer from Masataka Yoshida in the eighth. Monasterio’s homer off Peralta was his fifth of the year but his first off of a righty; he was hitting just .195/.213/.253 in 89 plate appearances versus righties coming into the day. The triple was the second of his career and first since 2023.

Cheng has held his own in the majors as Boston’s fourth option at shortstop, going 6-for-22 with four RBI since being called up on June 26. He’ll still probably lose his spot if Trevor Story is able to return before the end of the month.

Seigler was replaced by Andruw Monasterio at second base following a home-plate collision with Chicago catcher Kyle Teel while scoring on a wild pitch in the third inning. He came away with a laceration on his right arm and looked to be pretty shaken up after a head-first slide. He’ll undergo evaluation to determine whether he suffered any additional injuries on the play. There should be an update on his status after the contest.

We thought the 28-year-old Harris would likely clear waivers, but he never even got there, as a Red Sox team dealing with a few infield injuries thought it was worth picking him up. The 28-year-old Harris has hit .194/.307/.289 in 213 plate appearances since debuting for the A’s in 2024. He has options left, so the Red Sox could stash him in Triple-A. If the Red Sox were to activate him immediately, it could be at Andrew Monasterio’s expense. The return for the A’s, Hansen, was a 2024 20th-round pick. The 24-year-old has a 4.75 ERA in High-A this year.

He’ll add infield depth with Marcelo Mayer (forearm) heading to the injured list. The 24-year-old infielder was hitting .254/.351/.424 with seven homers, 18 RBI and 10 stolen bases in 240 plate appearances at Triple-A Worcester. He can be ignored for fantasy purposes.