Red Sox Acquire Bichette, Cummings

Dante Bichette knew he’d been traded the moment he got the message to call Cincinnati General Manager Jim Bowden.

“I said to myself, ‘Please let it be Boston,’ ” Bichette said.

He got his wish and the Red Sox got a run producer Thursday by sending two low-level minor league pitchers to the Reds for the 36-year-old outfielder.

Several hours after the Bichette deal, the Red Sox acquired outfielder Midre Cummings, who leads the American League with 11 pinch-hits, from Minnesota for minor league infielder Hector De Los Santos.

In the Bichette trade, both teams got what they needed most. The Reds had to free some salary for next season, when their young nucleus becomes eligible for arbitration. The Red Sox got a designated hitter and a proven clutch hitter for their playoff run.

“We’ve got a very specific need to be addressed if we’re going to make the playoffs and that’s run production,” Boston General Manager Dan Duquette said.

The Reds got right-hander Chris Reitsma and left-hander John Curtice, neither of whom has pitched above double A.

*

Injured Yankee second baseman Chuck Knoblauch had a cortisone shot for his ailing right elbow and should resume throwing this weekend. . . . San Francisco claimed catcher Scott Servais off waivers from Colorado.