Although Mike Lowell has good numbers against Shaun Marcum and David Ortiz does not, Red Sox manager Terry Francona is sticking with his lefty-righty designated hitter platoon for now, starting Ortiz against the right-hander Marcum.
Ortiz is 2-for-16 (.125) with five strikeouts against Marcum, who does very well against lefties. He has held left-handed hitters to a .153 average in 2010, compared to .300 for righties.
Lowell is 5-for-13 (.385) vs. Marcum.
Adrian Beltre, who is batting seventh for the Sox, is 7-for-15 (.467) with two home runs and two doubles against the Blue Jays starter. The rest of the lineup has some rather pedestrian numbers vs. Marcum, but of their collective 25 hits, nine have been doubles and six have been home runs.
Jonathan Van Every will make his fifth start in the outfield for Boston.
Second baseman Aaron Hill was originally in the lineup and batting second for the Blue Jays, but he was scratched with a tight right hamstring. Randy Ruiz bats third for the first time this year for Toronto. He is 2-for-2 with a home run in his career against Tim Wakefield.
Here are the complete lineups for both teams:
Red Sox
Marco Scutaro SS
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Victor Martinez C
Kevin Youkilis 1B
J.D. Drew RF
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
Jeremy Hermida LF
Jonathan Van Every CF
Blue Jays
Fred Lewis LF
Alex Gonzalez SS
Randy Ruiz DH
Vernon Wells CF
Lyle Overbay 1B
Jose Bautista 3B
Travis Snider RF
John McDonald 2B
Jose Molina C
