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Jacoby Ellsbury’s Resurgence Leads Spoiler Red Sox Lineup in Second Game in Tampa Bay

As bad as the Red Sox lineup has looked at times over the past few weeks, if not for a certain degree of underperformance on the part of some key cogs, the hitters that Boston trots out onto the field on any given night isn't that bad a collection.

Likewise, the Red Sox are beginning to see what it's like to have a legitimate middle of the order bat in the lineup again, as Jacoby Ellsbury has posted a .967 OPS over his past nine games, going 14-for-41 with two home runs and seven RBIs. It's taken quite a while for the center fielder to find his footing this season since rejoining the team in mid-July, but lately he's been showing more than just a glimpse of what he's capable of offensively — and how important he is to a batting order.

Ellsbury will bat in the No. 2 hole, and he'll be followed by another red-hot hitter in Dustin Pedroia. The diminutive second baseman has been anything but at the plate, hitting .375 with a 1.059 OPS during the month of September. Pedroia has gone just 2-for-13 since returning from paternity leave, but nonetheless creates a dangerous combination with Ellsbury in the Sox lineup.

Aside from that, Jose Iglesias gets his third consecutive start at shortstop, Ryan Lavarnway takes over as the designated hitter and Pedro Ciriaco continues to see a lot of time at third base.

Check out the lineups for both teams below:

Boston Red Sox
Pedro Ciriaco, 3B
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Cody Ross, RF
James Loney, 1B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Ryan Lavarnway, DH
Scott Podsednik, LF
Jose Iglesias, SS

Felix Doubront, LHP

Tampa Bay Rays
Desmond Jennings, LF
B.J. Upton, CF
Ben Zobrist, SS
Evan Longoria, DH
Jeff Keppinger, 1B
Ben Francisco, RF
Ryan Roberts, 2B
Chris Gimenez, C
Sean Rodriguez, 3B

Jeremy Hellickson, RHP