Third-round pick C.J. Prosise and seventh-round pick Zac Brooks

NEW YORK -- The second half of the season began virtually flawlessly for the Boston Red Sox.They hit three home runs, Steven Wright pitched six solid innings and the bullpen shut the door.Now Boston hopes Eduardo Rodriguez has fixed his flaws during a two-week stint in the minor leagues.Rodriguez returns to the rotation Saturday afternoon when Boston continues its three-game series with the New York Yankees.The Red Sox have won eight of their last 10 games after Fridays series-opening 5-3 win. Ryan Hanigan, Travis Shaw and Xander Bogaerts homered off Michael Pineda and Wright allowed all three of his runs in the sixth before escaping trouble.Rodriguez has had similar success to Wright in his brief experience against the Yankees. He was on the disabled list earlier this year when Boston took four of six against New York, but last year Rodriguez was 3-1 with a 2.22 ERA in four starts against the Yankees.He faced the Yankees on Sept. 28 when he allowed one run and seven hits over six innings in a 5-1 winRodriguezs success against the Yankees was part of an impressive rookie season that saw him go 10-6 with a 3.85 ERA. He has struggled to follow it up, going 0-3 with a 10.03 ERA over his last five starts.The left-hander was so ineffective June 27 at Tampa Bay -- when he allowed nine runs and 11 hits in 2 2/3 innings -- that it earned him a demotion to Triple-A Pawtucket.In Triple-A, he made two starts while allowing two runs in 10 innings as he used some new mechanics.(He) looks like hes gaining some comfort with the hand position that has widely been talked about, manager John Farrell told reporters last week.Meanwhile, the Yankees hope CC Sabathia has better fastball command than Pineda, who allowed the home runs on his fastball and lasted five-plus innings Friday.Sabathia has experienced a career revival, but has struggled recently.Sabathia is 0-2 with an 8.22 ERA in his last four starts after going 5-4 with a 2.20 ERA in his first 11 outings.The last time Sabathia pitched was a week ago in Cleveland when he took a no-decision. Sabathia allowed five runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings but the Yankees wound up with a 7-6 victory in 11 innings.Despite recent struggles, the veteran lefty is 7-8 with a 3.44 ERA in his last 24 starts since Aug. 1.Sabathia is 12-12 with a 4.47 ERA in 32 starts against the Red Sox. With the Yankees, he is 10-8 with a 4.64 ERA in 25 starts against them.Sabathia will be pitching for a team 8 1/2 games behind the first-place Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. The Yankees largest deficit has been nine games on two occasions in late June.And with each day that ticks by without much traction in the standings, the Yankees will face questions about urgency.Of course there is (urgency), New York manager Joe Girardi said. Weve talked about it. We talk about it in here, weve talked about it with the group in there. Of course there is because you start to run out of days.We have to focus on winning series, especially against teams that are in our division, Yankees right fielder Carlos Beltran added. We are playing Boston, next team will be Baltimore for four games here, so we have to get it done. Wholesale Soccer Jerseys China . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Cheap Soccer Jerseys . Breaking three of his own world records on his way to winning in Paris, Chan silenced the critics and left the audiences standing in appreciation and awe. https://www.soccerjerseyschina.us/ . On Tuesday, Ottawa placed forward Cory Conacher and defenceman Joe Corvo on waivers as trade rumours swirl around the Senators. Wholesale Soccer Jerseys . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. Cheap Soccer Jerseys Authentic . On Mar. 16, coming off a "fight of the year" performance at UFC 154 the previous November, St-Pierre faced Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in what would be his eighth defence of the welterweight title. Using his superior athleticism, St-Pierre cruised to a five round, unanimous decision victory setting up a much-anticipated title defence against number one contender Johny Hendricks. RENTON, Wash. -- Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls carried a football Tuesday for the first time since a broken ankle ended his rookie season last December.Rawls was limited to individual work in his first practice with Seattle since being activated from the physically unable to perform list on Sunday, but to Rawls it was a big step toward getting back to where he wants to be.I think it fit real good in the timeline. Just taking it day by day and getting better, Rawls said after practice. Just visualizing and getting my feet wet a little bit out there and Im so excited and glad to be out there with the fellas.Though he passed his physical and was eligible to practice Sunday, the rest of the team was having a mock game scrimmage which made it unfeasible for Rawls to begin his first work of camp then.Rawls suffered a broken ankle and ligament damage in a game against the Baltimore Ravens in December. After gaining 44 yards on six carries on Seattles opening possession, Rawls was engulfed by Brandon Williams and Chris Canty, who fell on him with his ankle caught underneath.The injury ended a stellar rookie campaign that made Rawls the clear choice to replace a retiring Marshawn Lynch. He rushed for 830 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games with seven starts in place of an injured Lynch. His 209-yard effort against the San Francisco 49ers was the second-most rushing yards in a game in franchise history, trailing only Shaun Alexanders 266 yards in 2001.In the last couple days weve seen him really take off in burst and hes worked so hard. Hes reeady to be out there, head coach Pete Carroll said.dddddddddddd We still just have to work him into it and wean him, but its really exciting to have him back.Carroll and general manager John Schneider have repeatedly said Rawls and tight end Jimmy Graham are expected to be ready for the Sept. 11 season opener against the Miami Dolphins. Carroll said Tuesday that Graham (knee) is close to being activated from the PUP list as well.Give us a couple of weeks. Theres plenty of time here. Well figure it out. Im sure (Rawls) is going to be chomping at the bit come by the last preseason game, at least, if not sooner, Carroll said.Rawls and three other running backs were unable to participate in Sundays mock game. Christine Michael sat out due to illness. Third-round pick C.J. Prosise and seventh-round pick Zac Brooks were sidelined with hamstring injuries.Michael returned to practice Tuesday, and Prosise and Brooks are both expected back within the next week.Despite his strong rookie campaign, Rawls isnt taking his early success for granted. He feels he has to win the job all over again.Were going to compete, Rawls said. I dont feel established. Im going to always be a hard worker. Ill always be a leader and Im going to always congratulate guys whenever guys go out there and do some of the amazing things that they do.---Online: AP NFL website: http://www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '