Mookie Betts was again out of the Red Sox's lineup on Thursday against the Astros, marking the fifth straight game the star right fielder has been out of the starting nine with a sore left side.
Betts, arguably Boston's best player -- if not the best in the American League -- was expected to be ready for the four-game series in Houston, a rematch of last year's AL Division Series, according to manager Alex Cora, though Brock Holt was penciled in to start in right field on Thursday.
Cora said on Wednesday that if it were September, Betts would be playing.