Left fielder Andrew Benintendi, first baseman Mitch Moreland and catcher Christian Vazquez will return to the starting lineup Wednesday afternoon as the Boston Red Sox wrap up a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
The Red Sox and Royals have split the first two games, with Kansas City earning a 4-2 win in Monday’s series opener and Boston cruising to an 8-3 victory in Tuesday’s middle contest. Drew Pomeranz and Ian Kennedy will take the ball for the Red Sox and Royals, respectively, as the teams square off Wednesday in muggy Kansas City before going their separate ways.
Wednesday’s matinee also concludes an eight-game Red Sox road trip that began in Philadelphia and stopped in Houston before arriving in K.C. The Red Sox are 4-3 on the excursion thus far.
The Red Sox surely would love to return home on a positive note, and a good start by Pomeranz could go a long way toward ensuring that. The left-hander has experienced both highs and lows this season, but he’s coming off a solid start against the Astros last Friday in which he allowed only one run on four hits over 6 1/3 innings in Boston’s 2-1 win despite not factoring into the decision.
Here are Wednesday’s complete lineups, with the first pitch scheduled for 2:15 p.m. ET.
RED SOX (40-31)
Mookie Betts, RF
Andrew Benintendi, LF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Mitch Moreland, 1B
Chris Young, DH
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Josh Rutledge, 2B
Christian Vazquez, C
Deven Marrero, 3B
Drew Pomeranz, LHP (6-4, 4.19 ERA)
ROYALS (34-36)
Whit Merrifield, LF
Jorge Bonifacio, RF
Lorenzo Cain, CF
Eric Hosmer, DH
Salvador Perez, C
Mike Moustakas, 3B
Cheslor Cuthbert, 1B
Alcides Escobar, SS
Ramon Torres, 2B
Ian Kennedy, RHP (1-6, 5.03 ERA)
Thumbnail photo via Peter G. Aiken/USA TODAY Sports Images
