After the Rays went lefty-heavy Monday in their destruction of Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Red Sox are responding by throwing every righty they have at Tampa Bay southpaw David Price Tuesday.
1. Carl Crawford, LF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
4. Kevin Youkilis, DH
5. Jed Lowrie, 3B
6. Mike Cameron, CF
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Darnell McDonald, RF
9. Marco Scutaro, SS
Leave it to Terry Francona to stack the lineup against a left-hander and still almost pull of the left-right-left-right pattern. This is possible, of course, thanks to the switch hitting Jed Lowrie and Jason Varitek, both of whom are particularly adept at hitting from the right side of the plate.
David Ortiz and J.D. Drew will both get the night off against Price despite each having been hot at the plate of late. It’s nice to see Ortiz get a day off in April without the cloud of a slump hanging over his head for once. Jacoby Ellsbury—1-for-7 against price in his career—and Jarrod Saltalamacchia will also sit.
For what it’s worth, in the few times they’ve seen him, Mike Cameron, Darnell McDonald, and Kevin Youkilis have been particularly effective against Price. And while no group truly can be said to hit Price well, righties do have an OPS 100 points higher against him.