BOSTON -- Kevin Youkilis is considered day to day after missing his second straight game due to back tightness.
Youkilis was removed from the lineup about one hour before the Red Sox opened a three-game series with the Oakland Athletics on Monday night. Following the game, an 11-6 Boston win, manager Bobby Valentine said that Youkilis felt pain after taking grounders earlier in the day.
Valentine scratched Youkilis off the lineup card Sunday in Chicago after his third baseman felt the pain following a session in the batting cage. The hope is that it is nothing more than a muscular issue that can fixed with simple treatment.
“I just talked to Rick Jameyson, our trainer, after the game here and he seemed to think he could be OK,” Valentine said. “He’s got a little twinge here and there. He’d play if he could, I can guarantee you that. He was trying to. He just took too many ground balls.”
Nick Punto, who played third base in place of Youkilis, was 0-for-3 with a walk and dropped a popup for an error.