David Ortiz will start against a left-hander for the first time since April 7 when he takes his customary spot at designated hitter against Detroit Tigers southpaw Dontrelle Willis on Saturday.
The rare start comes a day after Ortiz slugged two home runs, one a monster shot that was measured out to 450 feet, the fourth-longest drive in Comerica Park history.
Ortiz is now batting .333 (11-for-33) with five home runs and 11 RBIs in May. He has been in a virtual platoon with Mike Lowell for the past month or so. The last time Ortiz was in the starting lineup against a lefty, he was facing Yankees veteran Andy Pettitte in the Red Sox' third game of the season.
Ortiz is 3-for-19 (.158) when facing southpaws this season. He has never seen Willis, but two of his teammates have owned the shaky Tigers starter.
Adrian Beltre is 7-for-9 (.778) with three doubles, a triple and a home run off Willis. Victor Martinez is 4-for-6 with two doubles and a homer.
The only Tiger to have more than five at bats against Jon Lester is old pal Johnny Damon, who is 7-for-24 (.292) with a pair of dingers against the Boston starter.
Detroit left fielder Casper Wells will be making his major league debut and batting second.
Here are the complete lineups for both teams:
Red Sox
Marco Scutaro SS
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Victor Martinez C
Kevin Youkilis 1B
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
J.D. Drew RF
Bill Hall LF
Darnell McDonald CF
Tigers
Austin Jackson CF
Casper Wells LF
Magglio Ordonez RF
Miguel Cabrera 1B
Brennan Boesch DH
Brandon Inge 3B
Gerald Laird C
Scott Sizemore 2B
Adam Everett SS
