Terry Francona has decided to shake up his roster a bit for the final game of the Red Sox’ four-game set with the Royals and will start four different players from Saturday's 1-0 win.
Dustin Pedroia, who has not found his April plate consistency this month, will watch Sunday's game from the dugout, with Bill Hall replacing him at second base. Hall, who will hit eighth, is only batting .194 in 72 at-bats this season, though. Batting in Pedroia's usual No. 2 spot is Darnell McDonald, getting the start in left field.
Jason Varitek will catch Jon Lester as Victor Martinez gets a break. Varitek has two homers in 14 career at-bats against Royals starter Bruce Chen. Finally, hot-hitting Kevin Youkilis returns to first base after Mike Lowell started on Saturday.
For the Royals, Willie Bloomquist replaces speedy Scott Podsednik in center field and at the top of the order, and Brayan Pena, who has only played in nine games this season, gets the start behind the plate for Jason Kendall.
Here are the lineups for both teams:
Red Sox
Marco Scutaro, SS
Darnell McDonald, LF
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Adrian Beltre, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Jason Varitek, C
Bill Hall, 2B
Mike Cameron, CF
Royals
Willie Bloomquist, LF
Mike Aviles, 2B
David DeJesus, RF
Billy Butler, 1B
Jose Guillen, DH
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
Brayan Pena, C
Yuniesky Betancourt, SS
Mitch Maier, CF
