Eduardo Rodriguez and Christian Vazquez arrived together Monday at Hadlock Field, a pair of Red Sox major leaguers on another rehab assignment in Portland.

They got their work in, with Rodriguez throwing four scoreless innings and Vazquez knocking in three runs.

Rodriguez and Vazquez hope to team again on the south side of Chicago. Boston plays the White Sox this weekend with Rodriguez possibly starting Saturday.

“With (Rodriguez) pitching Saturday in Chicago, I think we’ll be there,” Vazquez said.

An effective Rodriguez, who has been shelved for over two months with an ankle injury, would be a welcomed sight for the Red Sox. They are in the middle of a rare slump – 2-6 in their last eight games.

Before his injury on July 14, Rodriguez (11-3) was on a 19-inning scoreless streak.

On Monday against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats – a game won by Portland, 12-6 – Rodriguez did not have the best command but worked around it. He gave up two singles – on breaking balls over the plate – and two walks, striking out six. He used 76 pitches, 47 for strikes. His fastball topped at 94 mph.

“My pitches were working,” Rodriguez said. “The part I was a little concerned about – too many 2-0 and 3-0 counts.

“They weren’t chasing my change-up … The cutter was more (over) the plate … Fastball command was a little off. But we have games like that.”

If Rodriguez and Vazquez are activated Saturday, Sept. 1, it wouldn’t require a counter roster move because major league rosters can expand to 40 in September. That makes it easier to add Vazquez, seeing that the Red Sox already have two major league catchers in Sandy Leon and Blake Swihart.

Vazquez has been gone since July 7 with a broken pinky finger.

“It was tough to grab the bat,” he said.

With Vazquez out, Leon has become the primary catcher while Swihart is hitting .310 over July and August.

On Monday, Vazquez came up three times. He hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning, just short of the warning track in left-center. Vazquez singled in two runs in the second with a grounder to right field. He grounded to short in the fourth.

“Felt good. Timing was good,” said Vazquez, who played for the Sea Dogs in 2012 and 2013. “This was great. It was my home for two years.”

Vazquez left after the game. On Tuesday, he will catch another rehabber, Steven Wright, in Pawtucket.

Monday was the start of a four-game series with New Hampshire – and the last Sea Dogs homestand of 2018. They got things going with seven runs over the first two innings.

When the Fisher Cats scored three runs in the fifth off reliever Trey Ball (4-4), Portland answered with three runs, and kept scoring.

First baseman Jantzen Witte, down from Pawtucket four days ago, went 4 for 5 with a three-run homer, double, two singles and four RBI. Danny Mars added three hits and two RBI.

NOTES: The Sea Dogs (59-73) are still in last place in the Eastern League East Division, but only two games behind fifth-place Hartford (60-70), and 2½ behind fourth-place Binghamton (62-71). … New Hampshire (73-58) leads the division by one game over Trenton (73-60), a 5-1 winner over Altoona. … Aron Baynes of the Boston Celtics will appear at Tuesday’s game.

Kevin Thomas can be reached at 791-7411 or:

[email protected]

Twitter: @ClearTheBases

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