The Red Sox are out to play spoiler again as they take on the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday night in the first of two games. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. EST with broadcasts on NESN and WEEI.
The Jacoby Ellsbury injury "situation" continues as mysterious as ever. The center fielder hasn't been seen in the lineup for a good five days now, and tonight is no different. Che-Hsuan Lin will get the start in his place, making just his second ever major league start. The Taiwanese outfielder possesses a fantastic defensive package between his lightning speed and cannon arm, but so far has not shown a bat that can play at the top level, with his discipline ruined by a complete lack of power.
Lin will join Jose Iglesias a the bottom of the lineup, making for one of the weakest offensive duos the game has seen. Each of them are top flight defenders sure to make highlight reels with adequate playing time, but both will have to improve at the plate to have any sort of real long-term prospects.
Boston Red Sox (69-85)
- Pedro Ciriaco, DH
- Daniel Nava, LF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Cody Ross, RF
- Mauro Gomez, 1B
- Ryan Lavarnway, C
- Danny Valencia, 3B
- Che-Hsuan Lin, CF
- Jose Iglesias, SS
Tampa Bay Rays (83-70)
- Desmond Jennings, LF
- B.J. Upton, CF
- Ben Zobrist, SS
- Evan Longoria, 3B
- Luke Scott, DH
- Jeff Keppinger, 2B
- Matt Joyce, RF
- Carlos Pena, 1B
- Jose Molina, C