Koji Uehara set to return

Koji Uehara will be available to pitch in Thursday night's game against the White Sox according to Peter Abraham. Boston's closer has been out with a shoulder injury, and last pitched eight days ago against the Rangers.

It's good timing for the Red Sox, who had to go through six relief pitchers in Wednesday night's extra-innings win. With Andrew Miller and Chris Capuano both throwing over 30 pitches, and Edward Mujica adding better than 20 of his own, John Farrell's options were bound to be limited in the series finale. Having Koji back should go a long way, assuming the Red Sox are able to gain the lead sometime before the ninth.

There's certainly nothing positive about a 39-year-old dealing with an injury scare. But as far as injury scares go, this one wasn't so bad. Uehara felt some tightness last Friday, the Red Sox played it safe, and nothing has come of it since. In fact, according to Scott Lauber, Uehara says it may even have been "more mental" than physical--a lingering fear from an injury suffered two years ago.

With Shane Victorino headed to a rehab assignment over the weekend, Dustin Pedroia back in the lineup, and Mike Napoli just waiting on some swelling and soreness, the Red Sox might actually be getting close to full health.