The Red Sox have shifted their lineup around--or rather back to as normal as possible, with Dustin Pedroia batting second and David Ortiz shifting into the cleanup spot. The result: the best four batters batting in the top four spots.
Hopefully, fewer stranded runners as well. After having 13 hits lead to just a pair of runs Tuesday, the Sox will have to be hoping for a lot better against Phil Hughes.
Josh Reddick will also find his way back into the order, with Jason Varitek playing behind the plate to form his typical battery with Josh Beckett.
Boston Red Sox (82-52)
- Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
- David Ortiz, DH
- Jed Lowrie, 3B
- Carl Crawford, LF
- Josh Reddick, RF
- Jason Varitek, C
- Marco Scutaro
The Yankees will have Eric Chavez at designated hitter. The man has a .706 OPS, but he absolutely kills the Red Sox, it seems. Hopefully that random bit of deviation doesn't continue much longer.
New York Yankees (82-51)
- Brett Gardner, LF
- Derek Jeter, SS
- Curtis Granderson, CF
- Mark Teixeira, 1B
- Robinson Cano, 2B
- Nick Swisher, RF
- Eric Chavez, DH
- Eduardo Nunez, 3B
- Francisco Cervelli, C
Pitching Matchup: Josh Beckett (11-5, 2.43) vs. Phil Hughes (4-4, 6.46)
As mediocre as yesterday's pitching matchup was for the Red Sox, Wednesday's is an absolute disaster for New York. While he does have a couple of decent outings of late to help ameliorate his terrible track record, he quickly gave it all back with a disaster game against Oakland. While the Bronx Bombers ended up pulling that particular game out, it doesn't change the seven earned runs he allowed in less than three innings.
Josh Beckett is just three weeks removed from another strong start against New York, in which he threw six innings of one-run ball. If that wasn't impressive enough, how about matching that performance down in Texas in his last start? Now, back at home, he'll try to stay on a roll against more of the league's best.