The Sox can only hope for a series split tonight as they take on the New York Yankees in Fenway Park. First pitch is at 8:05 p.m. EST with broadcasts on ESPN and WEEI.
Both Mauro Gomez and Pedro Ciriaco will be back in the lineup for the Red Sox one night after they lifted the Sox to their first win in six games.
Presumably Gomez' stay will only last as long as Will Middlebrooks' injury continues to keep him out, at least as far as starting at third is considered given Gomez' moribund glove. For Ciriaco, however, this might be the beginning of a big opportunity. With Mike Aviles' numbers having taken a nosedive after the first few weeks of the season, Ciriaco at least gives the Sox an element of the unknown quantity. Ciriaco doesn't exactly come with much in the way of expectations given his mediocre minor league career and complete lack of hype, but he's got a slick glove and can't do that much worse than Aviles at the plate. For now they both fit in the lineup, but over the next couple of weeks if Ciriaco proves himself and Aviles doesn't, who's to say?
In other words: what's there to lose?
Boston Red Sox (43-42)
- Daniel Nava, LF
- Pedro Ciriaco, 2B
- David Ortiz, DH
- Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
- Cody Ross, RF
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
- Ryan Sweeney, CF
- Mauro Gomez, 3B
- Mike Aviles, SS
New York Yankees (51-33)
- Derek Jeter, SS
- Curtis Granderson, CF
- Mark Teixeira, 1B
- Alex Rodriguez, 3B
- Robinson Cano, DH
- Nick Swisher, RF
- Andruw Jones, LF
- Jayson Nix, 2B
- Chris Stewart, C
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