Victor Martinez will be activated prior to the Red Sox' series opener in Anaheim on Monday, giving an ailing offense a huge shot in the arm.
Martinez, who has been out since breaking his left thumb June 27, will catch Clay Buchholz and bat sixth. Dusty Brown will be optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket and Kevin Cash will slide into the reserve role.
The Sox went 9-13 without Martinez and saw its once-potent attack go into the tank. They scored more than five runs just four times in that stretch and the replacements for their All-Star backstop, including Brown, have failed to produce much of anything.
Four fill-ins — Brown, Kevin Cash, Gustavo Molina and Jason Varitek, before he was hurt himself — combined to go 12-for-74 (.162) with just two RBIs in Martinez's absence.
The two RBIs came via Varitek all the way back on June 29.
Martinez is batting .289 with nine homers and 38 RBIs.
