TORONTO -- Two days after saying he was working with "the weakest roster we've ever had in September in the history of baseball," Bobby Valentine tried to sound a conciliatory note.

At the end of his pregame media availability Sunday, Valentine volunteered a clarification of his comment made Friday.

"The other day when I made a comment about our September roster, that wasn't meant to be a criticism of any players or anything in the organization," Valentine said. "It's a statement of fact because of the injuries and our Triple-A team in the playoffs. This is different. We have less people than most September rosters. We have less positions filled than any September roster I've ever seen before.

"Anybody who thought that to be anything other than a statement of what it was, stand corrected on that."

Boston's top farm team, the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox, wrapped up a three-game sweep of Charlotte last Thursday to claim its first International League crown since 1984.

The PawSox moved on to Tuesday's one-game, winner-take-all showdown with the Reno Aces, who won their first Pacific Coast League title Saturday, beating Omaha in four games. Reno is the top farm team of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Before Friday's game, Valentine was asked whether there was a particular area of his team that could most use some extra help.

"Are you kidding?" he responded. "This is the weakest roster we've ever had in September in the history of baseball. It could use help everywhere."

On Sunday, Valentine said it was an absence of depth, not quality, that led to that outburst.

"Usually a September roster has some starting pitchers who are waiting in the wings," Valentine said Sunday. "Ours doesn't. Usually a September roster has some left-handed pinch-hitter type guys, or pinch runners, five or six outfielders. We have four outfielders. It's not like a September roster."

What Valentine failed to explain is why reinforcements have not been drafted in from Pawtucket, their playoff run notwithstanding.