The Red Sox will be playing one of their most bizzare--and, quite frankly, worst lineups of the year Tuesday night against Danny Duffy and the Royals.
An odd mixture of injury concerns for Kevin Youkilis and a focus on stacking the lineup with right-handed hitting has produced a lineup that does not promise a fun night after Kyle Davies and the Royals bullpen managed to shut down the Red Sox' best for fourteen innings.
Of course, given the improbability of that particular event, maybe some weirdness is exactly what the Sox need. To be sure, they'll get just that with this bunch:
Boston Red Sox (62-38)
- Darnell McDonald, CF
- Marco Scutaro, SS
- Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- David Ortiz, DH
- Carl Crawford, LF
- Jason Varitek, C
- Josh Reddick, LF
- Yamaico Navarro, 3B
It's really a sight to look at. Two of the worst hitters in the lineup are batting 1-2 while Josh Reddick is batting eighth, after even Jason Varitek. All that's missing is the famous Joe Maddon two third basemen approach so that Andrew Miller can take some hacks in place of David Ortiz.
The biggest difference between Tuesday's Royals lineup and the one from Monday is the inclusion of highly-touted prospect Mike Moustakas at third base. He's had a lot of trouble adjusting to the majors so far, though, and isn't terribly frightening in the six-hole.
Kansas City Royals (43-59)
- Alex Gordon, LF
- Melky Cabrera, CF
- Billy Butler, DH
- Eric Hosmer, 1B
- Jeff Francoeur, RF
- Mike Moustakas, 3B
- Mike Aviles, 2B
- Matt Treanor, C
- Alcides Escobar, SS