The conspicuous absence of Mike MacDougal the last three games, all 1-run affairs into the late innings, leads me to believe that the only completely healthy and consistently effective reliever left in the pen is Matt Thornton.
[Today]
Mike MacDougal, who hasn't pitched since Saturday because of tightness in his right shoulder area, might be available to pitch Friday night when the Sox begin a three-game series in Oakland.
MacDougal visited specialist Lewis Yocum and had an MRI exam on Tuesday that revealed no abnormalities.
"I'm just a little tight from my previous injury at the beginning of the year," said MacDougal, who missed the first half of the season with Kansas City because of a strained right forearm muscle. "I'm just being careful with it."