
Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi was placed on the bereavement list Friday following the death of a family member.
He will be away from the team through the weekend and is expected to rejoin them after the All-Star break.
The Sox called up Sam Travis from Triple A Pawtucket to fill the roster spot. This will be Travis’s second major-league stint after getting the call for four games last month.
In 57 games with Pawtucket this season, Travis is hitting .224 with 6 homers and 20 RBIs, but over his past eight games, he’s hit .346 (9 for 26) with 2 homers and 3 RBIs.
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“Swinging at strikes. Not chasing,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora of Travis’s upswing. “They say he’s not as pull happy as he was early. That’s a good sign. Spring training, he was driving the ball to right center, he was very disciplined. He got away from it. Now the past few weeks he’s been back to doing that.”
Travis was slotted at DH, hitting seventh in the order.
First baseman Steve Pearce, who left Thursday’s game with a left shin contusion after being hit with a 94-mile-per-hour fastball from J.A. Happ, was out of the lineup Friday. He was available to pinch hit, Cora said, but is otherwise day-to-day.
With just three days before the All-Star break, Cora decided to be cautious with Pearce.
“We’ve been taking care of everybody here physically,” Cora said. “So we know how important he is for us, so staying away from him yesterday was good. Why push it? We’ve got three more days in this first part, so we’ve got to make sure he’s 100 percent.”
More Red Sox coverage:
■ Red Sox’ 10-game winning streak comes to a crashing halt
■ Rick Porcello: “I had a terrible night, that’s for sure”
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■ Could this Red Sox team end up being the best in franchise history?
■ Alex Cora recalls his 18-pitch at bat as a Dodger
Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @julianbenbow.