Jays add Arencibia and Lawrie back into lineup: Griffin

The Jays on Friday activated a pair of important injured position players, third baseman Brett Lawrie and catcher J.P. Arencibia and added them to the lineup against the Red Sox in time for the first of a three-game series. John Farrell said he was pleased and relieved, no, make that thrilled to have them back.

In addition, the club recalled catcher/infielder Yan Gomes and pitchers David Carpenter and Joel Carreno. 

Arencibia had been out with a broken hand suffered on a foul tip vs. Oakland on July 25. The 27-year-old recently completed a rehab stint with A-Dunedin, as they completed their playoffs. Arencibia is batting .242 with 16 home runs and 50 RBIs in 81 games. He had been helping carry the offence in the absence of Jose Bautista, injured nine days earlier.

Lawrie has had stops and starts in his rehab from a strained right oblique suffered in Oakland on August 2. He ended up his minor-league rehab on Thursday with A-Lansing in the Midwest League playoffs, going 3-for-4, with a triple and a walk, but made two errors as Lansing was eliminated in their first-round series. The righthanded hitter, a Langley B.C. native is batting .282 with none homers and 40 RBIs.

The Jays had not been planning on any other September recalls, during the period of the 40-man roster, but the fact that Gomes, Carpenter and Carreno are all on the 40-man roster and healthy changed that line of thinking.

Gomes, 25, has appeared in 33 games for the Jays this season, but finished the year at AAA-Las Vegas batting .328 with 13 homers and 59 RBIs. 

Carreno, 25, had two separate stints with the Jays, appearing in seven games with a 0-2 record and a 6.35 ERA. One of the starts was the bizarre Milwaukee appearance where he took the red-eye from Tucson, started a day game and was shipped out the next day. He split his minor-league season between AA-New Hampshire and Vegas, appearing in 27 games with a 4-9 record and a 4.90 ERA. 

Carpenter, 27, was the other Carpenter, acquired with J.A. Happ and Brandon Lyon from the Astros on July 20. He appeared in 30 games with the Astos and one with Jays, splitting his minor league time between Oklahoma City and Las Vegas, with a 1-1 record and a 3.08 ERA in 23 games.

All five players will be activated in time for Friday's game at Fenway Park.