Koji Uehara partially tore a pectoral muscle on his right side while throwing a pitch on July 19. Up until a few weeks ago, the Red Sox were not convinced the 41-year-old would return this season.

Without benefit of an injury rehabilitation assignment in the minors, Uehara was activated off the disabled list on Sept. 5 and has appeared in four games.

Remarkably, he has thrown 50 of 63 pitches for strikes over four scoreless innings. Uehara has allowed three hits and struck out five without a walk.

“It speaks volumes to his body control and his ability to command a baseball even when he might not be as powerful as early in the season,’’ Sox manager John Farrell said before Thursday’s game against the Yankees.

Uehara pitched an inning against Baltimore on Wednesday and never got above 87 miles per hour. But location and movement mean far more than velocity for him.

“You combine it with a lot of years of experience and the savvy that he has and even the way he’s pitching right now and it’s a complete comfortable inning from the dugout,’’ Farrell said.

Uehara is again the primary setup man for closer Craig Kimbrel.

Late addition

The Yankees signed designated hitter Billy Butler to a major league contract, put him on the roster, and batted him fifth.

The Oakland Athletics released Butler on Sept. 11 and before Thursday he had not played since Sept. 6. New York is responsible only for the prorated minimum salary, roughly $53,000.

The righthanded-hitting Butler hit .258 with 19 home runs over two seasons and 236 games for Oakland after being signed to a somewhat inexplicable three-year, $30 million deal before the 2015 season.

With the Red Sox pitching three lefthanders in the series, the Yankees signed Butler to boost their lineup.

“That’s why we went and got him. Over his career, he’s been successful against lefthanders, and we’re seeing three here, and I think one or two in Tampa. We’re going to see a lot, so we brought him in to help,’’ manager Joe Girardi said.

The Yankees also hope Butler will benefit from the smaller parks of the American League East.

The move paid off right away. Butler had a sacrifice fly in the first inning and an RBI single in the third.

Crowded house

The Red Sox have 36 players on their roster and 35 in uniform with Steven Wright working out in Florida. That makes for a space crunch in the clubhouse.

The Sox wheeled in six extra lockers and found spots in the middle of the room. The players with the least major league service time — AndrewBenintendi,Henry Owens, Deven Marrero, Yoan Moncada, Noe Ramirez, and Robby Scott — were assigned those lockers.

The Yankees have 37 active players and they were shoulder to shoulder in the tiny visitor’s clubhouse.

Yanks to honor Ortiz

The Yankees announced their ceremony to recognize David Ortiz before his retirement would be prior to the game on Sept. 29 . . . The game was briefly delayed at the top of the third inning when the door down the left-field line was struck and didn’t close . . . Brock Holt was recognized before the game as the team’s nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award. East Freetown’s Maddie LeClair, a 15-year-old Jimmy Fund patient, joined Holt on the field. Holt, who is dealing with a sore shoulder, was available to pinch hit and should be ready to play in the field on Friday. “He’s very close to being restriction free,’’ Farrell said.

Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @peteabe.