ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Willson Contreras returned to the Boston Red Sox lineup for Sunday's regular-season finale after missing eight games because of an injured right hand, raising hopes he will be ready for the playoffs after he cast doubt on his status just days earlier.
Contreras, who entered Sunday leading the Red Sox with 27 homers and 81 RBIs, batted third as the designated hitter against the Chicago Cubs in a game moved from Fenway Park to Tropicana Field because of rain.
Contreras was hit on his right hand by a Jakob Junis pitch on Sept. 17.
On Thursday, the first baseman said he had ongoing pain in the hand that was preventing him from being able to swing. But he has since recovered well enough to play.
"Huge ... massive," manager Chad Tracy said before the Cubs game. "Even with a layoff, with a guy like that, you know what he's capable of doing with one swing of the bat. It's pretty well documented. That's so much what the postseason is about, these big moments where one swing can change a game. So that power and that presence in the middle of the order is important."
Also Sunday, Boston put Mickey Gasper (right biceps strain) and Tyron Guerrero (right shoulder strain) on the 10-day injured list, meaning they'll miss the wild-card series.
Meanwhile, left-hander Garrett Crochet, who hasn't pitched since late April because left shoulder inflammation and then a lat strain, came out of another live batting practice Saturday well and will travel with the team to New York ahead of its wild-card series against the Yankees.
Tracy hasn't said whether Crochet will be on the wild-card roster.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
