Jacoby Ellsbury Batting Ninth As Red Sox Take on Brett Cecil, Blue Jays in Series Opener

by John Beattie on Fri, Apr 15, 2011 at 3:42PM

Toronto's Brett Cecil (0-1, 7.20 ERA) faces Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz (0-2, 7.20 ERA) as the two young guns kick off an exciting weekend of AL East baseball at Fenway Park.

The four-game series opens with both hurlers looking for their first wins of the season. Cecil, a southpaw, has been tagged for eight earned runs in 10 innings, lasting just five inning apiece in each of his two starts. Last season, however, he managed to win both of his starts at the Fens.

Buchholz is 6-3 with a 2.50 ERA in nine career starts against the Jays. Jays slugger Jose Bautista has five hits — including one homer — and two RBIs in 17 career at-bats against the righty.

Right fielder J.D. Drew has two hits — both of which home runs — in seven career at-bats against Cecil. Leadoff hitter Carl Crawford may very well bust out of his early season slump on Friday night as he owns a .333 BA (4-for-12) with three RBIs against Cecil. Darnell McDonald, who isn't in the starting lineup Friday, is 5-for-7 (.714) with two doubles against Cecil.

Check out the lineups below.

Red Sox
Carl Crawford, LF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
J.D. Drew, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Marco Scutaro, SS
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF

Blue Jays
Yunel Escobar, SS
Corey Patterson, CF
Jose Bautista, RF
Adam Lind, 1B
Aaron Hill, 2B
J.P. Arencibia, C
Travis Snider, LF
Juan Rivera, DH
Jayson Nix, 3B