NEW YORK — In the final week of March, closer Koji Uehara was unsure of when he would return from a strained left hamstring.
Over the weekend, that answer became clearer and it is the news that Red Sox fans waited to hear.
Uehara pitched the fifth inning for Class A Greenville and allowed one run and three hits to six hitters. He threw 14 of 17 pitches for strikes but, more importantly, he did not feel any soreness or other pain.
That’s the report that manager John Farrell received, and before Sunday’s 14-4 loss against the New York Yankees, he said that Uehara would be activated for the home opener.
Hamstrings can be tricky situations but it appears the Red Sox lucked out during Uehara’s second career DL stint with a hamstring injury.
Uehara was injured doing conditioning drills on March 17. He made a pair of bullpen sessions after getting injured and the soreness remained, leading to him getting put on the DL.
Uehara’s injury impacted the Red Sox in a few ways. It led to Edward Mujica being the closer and in his first save opportunity Friday, he gave up a game-tying solo home run to Yankees third baseman Chase Headley with two outs in the ninth.
The Red Sox wound up exhausting their bullpen in a 19-inning game that saw relievers throw a combined 206 pitches.
As for Uehara, when he gets in a game, he will look to continue a standout career with the Red Sox. He is 10-6 with 47 saves and a 1.75 ERA to go along with 181 strikeouts in 138 2/3 innings in two seasons with Boston.