The Red Sox will kick off their three-game set against the Nationals by taking on the force of nature that is Stephen Strasburg Friday night. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. with broadcasts on NESN and WEEI.
With the difficult Strasburg proving even tougher against right-handed hitters, the Sox will send Will Middlebrooks to the bench for the day effectively in order to squeeze Ryan Sweeney's bat into the lineup. It's been a couple of days since the big lefty has gotten a start for the Sox, but he's hitting a solid .326/.362/.455 against right-handed pitching so far while providing strong outfield defense.
Adrian Gonzalez, meanwhile, will move back up to third against the right-handed Strasburg. He nearly had a perfect day at the plate on Thursday, only being denied by a great catch at the wall from Ryan Flaherty.
Boston Red Sox (29-28)
- Daniel Nava, LF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
- David Ortiz, DH
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
- Kevin Youkilis, 3B
- Ryan Sweeney, RF
- Mike Aviles, SS
- Scott Podsednik, CF
Washington Nationals (32-23)
- Danny Espinosa, 2B
- Bryce Harper, CF
- Ryan Zimmerman, 3B
- Michael Morse, DH
- Adam LaRoche, 1B
- Ian Desmond, SS
- Xavier Nady, RF
- Tyler Moore, LF
- Jesus Flores, C
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