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DET@BOS: Beckett leaves the game with an injury

After leaving his last start with a back spasm, Josh Beckett is good to go.

Beckett retired the first two batters he faced in the third inning against the Tigers on July 31 before giving up a single, hitting a batter and issuing two walks before exiting the game. The righty was scratched from his next scheduled outing on Sunday, but he will start Wednesday's series finale against the Rangers, although he should not be limited because of his back.

"He'll only be limited if his back hurts again," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said. "His arm is fine. I don't think he'll be limited."

Beckett, who has won only once in his last 10 starts, will be facing a team that he has lost to twice already this season. The Rangers beat Beckett in a 4-1 victory April 18 and a 5-3 win July 25. In four career starts against Texas at Fenway Park, Beckett is 0-2 with a 6.66 ERA, his worst against any American League team at home.

Matt Harrison bounced back from two straight losses in his last start to help the Rangers beat the Royals, 5-3, on Friday, giving up two runs on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings. It was his 14th quality start in 21 outings this year and his first since tossing a complete-game shutout July 15 against the Mariners. But Harrison, who walked a batter in each of the first three innings during his last game and loaded the bases in the second, admitted that it took him a while to get into a rhythm.

"I need to make my pitches and get after guys, stay aggressive and get deep in the game," Harrison said. "This team is swinging the bat well and they're getting guys back healthy. It's all about executing pitches and sticking to the game plan and then we'll see what happens."

Harrison has a Major League-best nine road wins this season, posting a 2.99 ERA in 12 starts away from home this year. He'll be backed up by a Rangers offense that scored a big league low 81 runs in July but has already pushed 49 runs across in seven August games, going 5-2 so far this month.

Rangers: Oswalt wants to be starter, will wait in 'pen
Before this year, Roy Oswalt had not made multiple relief appearances in the same season since he was a rookie in 2001, when eight of his 28 outings were out of the bullpen. Oswalt, after six starts, is a reliever once again following the Rangers' acquisition of Ryan Dempster and the team choosing to keep Scott Feldman in the rotation. Oswalt tossed four scoreless innings over two relief outings, but he still thinks of himself as a starting pitcher.

"I've never done this before and I'm still learning," Oswalt said. "If you asked anybody who has been starting for 10-12 years, they wouldn't be happy with moving to the bullpen. If they were, they're not competitors."

Red Sox: Bailey set to continue rehab assignment
Andrew Bailey, who has not pitched this season while recovering from right thumb surgery, will continue his rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket on Wednesday. He will need to pitch back-to-back days before the Red Sox consider activating him. Bailey allowed one run and fanned two in one inning for Double-A Portland on Saturday. He is one of three Boston relievers currently on the disabled list, the others being Scott Atchison and Rich Hill, who threw a bullpen session on Friday and could start a rehab assignment of his own soon.

"This whole year has been a snail's pace," Bailey said. "I'm just looking forward to the next step in the program and getting back. ... I'm very confident that I'll be here soon and I definitely took a lot of positives out of [Saturday's outing]."

Worth noting
• Josh Hamilton has eight hits in 20 career at-bats against Beckett with two home runs and seven RBIs. He's 2-for-6 against Beckett this year.

• Adrian Beltre's .337 batting average in day games this year is the seventh best in the AL. He needs one more home run to become the ninth third baseman in Major League history to have 10 seasons with at least 20 home runs.

• Mark Lowe retired the side in the seventh inning for Triple-A Round Rock in his fifth rehab outing on Tuesday night, striking out two and throwing nine of 10 pitches for strikes. He has been on the disabled list since June 26 with a strained right intercostal muscle and could return Friday.

• The first three hitters in the Sox's lineup -- Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford and Dustin Pedroia -- combined to go 9-for-13 with seven doubles, six runs and five RBIs in Boston's 9-2 win over the Rangers on Monday night. It was the first time in Red Sox history that the top three hitters in their lineup each had two doubles in the same game. The seven doubles allowed by Yu Darvish in that game was the most by a pitcher in Rangers history.

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