CLEVELAND — David Ortiz wasn’t ready to shut down.
Boston Red Sox interim manager Torey Lovullo indicated before Thursday’s series finale against the New York Yankees that he’d leave it up to Ortiz whether the designated hitter played this weekend against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Ortiz, who sat Thursday, decided to play Friday night against the Tribe despite reaching all of his contract incentives.
“The best part about David is the things that nobody knows about,” Lovullo said before Friday’s game. “He wants to play for all the right reasons. He wants to play to win a game. He wants to play to do well. He wants to play to show his younger teammates that this is what a championship-style player does.
“It speaks volumes about his character that he’s here to play.”
Dustin Pedroia, who also sat out Thursday’s contest in the Bronx, will return to the lineup Friday, too.
The complete lineups for Friday’s Red Sox-Indians matchup are below.
RED SOX (78-81)
Mookie Betts, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
David Ortiz, DH
Travis Shaw, 1B
Rusney Castillo, LF
Brock Holt, 3B
Blake Swihart, C
Jackie Bradley Jr., RF
Henry Owens, LHP (4-3, 3.84 ERA)
INDIANS (78-80)
Jose Ramirez, 2B
Francisco Lindor, SS
Ryan Raburn, DH
Carlos Santana, 1B
Yan Gomes, C
Chris Johnson, 3B
Jerry Sands, RF
Abraham Almonte, CF
Mike Aviles, LF
Josh Tomlin, RHP (6-2, 3.03 ERA)
Thumbnail photo via Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY Sports Images
