Jacoby Ellsbury Out Again; Aiming for Tuesday Return

Jacoby Ellsbury was held out of the Red Sox lineup for the third consecutive night with a bruised back.  Boston is expecting Ellsbury to return to action Tuesday.

Before Monday’s game, Ellsbury let Red Sox manager Terry Francona know that he was good to go.  Even so, Francona decided to give his center fielder one more night’s rest.

“I thought if we did that, we’ll be in good shape for tomorrow. He hit (Sunday) but it wasn’t really easy for him, but today he let loose a bit more and he did better,” Francona said. “If he keeps improving the way he has, he’ll play tomorrow. He’ll be sore, but he’ll play.”

Ellsbury has been out since Friday night when he was hit in the back by Royals’ reliever Everett Teaford.

2011 has been a career year for Ellsbury, who’s posted a line of .313/.370/.517 with 22 home runs, 79 RBI’s, 31 doubles, 33 stolen bases and 89 runs scored.

Along with Ellsbury, the Sox are expecting to get David Ortiz back during their series with the Rangers.  Ortiz has been out since last week, dealing with bursitis in his heal.  The slugger will be re-evaluated later tonight and tomorrow and there’s a shot he could rejoin the Sox tomorrow night.

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