ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A few quick hits after the Red Sox's last trip to the Trop in 2014, beginning with some numbers for August:

• The Sox were 12-16 for the month, seven games worse than the division-leading Orioles (19-9). The only AL East team with a worse record was Toronto, which faded from the playoff picture with a 9-17 August.

• The Sox were 13th in the AL in batting average (.231), 14th in OBP (.298), 14th in slugging (.335) and 14th in OPS (.633). The starters’ ERA for the month was 5.08, 14th in the league, exceeded only by Minnesota’s 5.76. The bullpen ranked fourth with a 2.57 ERA.

• Five Sox batters hit .275 or better, with David Ortiz the only player over .300 (.342/.442/.592/1.034). Dustin Pedroia was next at .297, followed by Daniel Nava at .280, Yoenis Cespedes at .276 and Mookie Betts at .275. Cespedes’s 22 RBIs led the club; Ortiz led with five home runs.

• Five Sox batters hit .200 or under: Christian Vazquez (.200), Will Middlebrooks (.190), Mike Napoli (.175), Allen Craig (.138) and Xander Bogaerts (.123). Bogaerts’s average was the lowest by a Sox player in August since Glenn Hoffman batted .101 in 1981.

• Lefty Tommy Layne, promoted after Andrew Miller was traded to the Orioles, had a 0.82 ERA in 15 August appearances. Edward Mujica, rebounding from his horrid start, posted a 1.59 ERA in 14 appearances. Newcomer Joe Kelly had the lowest ERA among the starters (3.86).

• Rookie Brandon Workman had the worst ERA (0-4, 8.04 in four appearances, three starts), while Allen Webster was 2-3 with a 7.28 ERA in six starts.

• With his game-tying single in the eighth Monday, Cespedes is now batting .382 (13-for-34) with runners in scoring position. Despite playing just 28 games with Boston, Cespedes is tied for the team lead with five game-tying or go-ahead hits in the seventh inning or later.

• Junichi Tazawa pitched a scoreless seventh, the first time he has pitched since blowing a save in Toronto on Aug. 27. The blown save came in Tazawa’s fourth appearance in a five-game stretch. Closer Koji Uehara warmed up each of the last two days, but was not summoned. Uehara last pitched on Aug. 25, and has hit the mound just once in the last 10 days. Manager John Farrell said he intended to ease their workload over the final weeks.

• Newcomer Jemile Weeks, acquired Saturday from Baltimore, made his first appearance in a game Monday, when he entered in the 10th inning as a pinch runner. He was picked off by Rays reliever Grant Balfour, a former teammate in Oakland.

• Dustin Pedroia, when asked by reporters about following the concussion protocol required before he is cleared to play, said, "I've got to pass (tests), which is tough. Didn't pass many tests in my schooling life."

• Anthony Ranaudo and Workman are expected to join the Red Sox in New York on Tuesday and pitch the first two games of the series in some order. Ranaudo last week was named International League pitcher of the year. Triple-A Pawtucket named Mookie Betts its most valuable player. Betts doubled and singled out of the leadoff spot and drove in six runs in this series. Double-A Portland named catcher Blake Swihart its MVP and left-hander Henry Owens its pitcher of the year. Both are now with Pawtucket.

• Tough series for Brock Holt. After singling safely in his first two at-bats Friday night, Holt went 1-for-14 the rest of the way, with eight strikeouts. Holt batted second Sunday, the first time since May 23 he had hit anywhere but leadoff in the Sox lineup, a span of 88 games.

• Center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. sat out Pawtucket’s finale Monday. In his 14 games with the PawSox after his demotion, he posted a .212/.246/.273/.519 slash line.