Clay Buchholz will return to the mound for just the second time on Sunday night. After a three-month stint on the disabled list, Buchholz is back, healthy and will lead the Red Sox as they look to complete the sweep of the Yankees at home.
In the right-hander’s last outing, Buchholz shut down the Rays over five innings, and he allowed only three hits on the night. Buchholz showed he could still be the ace of this staff despite being sidelined for three months due to neck and shoulder injuries.
Buchholz will take on Ivan Nova, who was chased early the last time these two teams met on Sept. 5 at Yankee Stadium. Nova lasted only four innings after giving up three runs on five hits, but Nova has experienced a relatively successful season, posting a career-best 3.17 ERA.
For only the second time this season, Xander Bogaerts will start in consecutive games. He’ll take over the hot corner in tonight’s contest while Will Middlebroooks, who is currently in an 0-for-17 slump, will get the night off. Shane Victorino will also sit on Sunday, and Mike Carp will return to the lineup batting cleanup and starting in left field.
After being a late scratch on Saturday due to a sprained right thumb, Alfonso Soriano is back in the lineup for the Yankees.
Check out Sunday’s complete lineups below.
Boston Red Sox (91-59)
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Daniel Nava, RF
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Carp, LF
Mike Napoli, 1B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Stephen Drew, SS
Xander Bogaerts, 3B
Jackie Bradley, CF
Clay Buchholz, P
New York Yankees (79-70)
Curtis Granderson, CF
Alex Rodriguez, DH
Robinson Cano, 2B
Alfonso Soriano, LF
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Mark Reynolds, 3B
Ichiro Suzuki, RF
Brendan Ryan, SS
Chris Stewart, C
Ivan Nova, P
