Adrian Beltre Returns From Hamstring Injury to Start Friday Night Against the Rangers

Adrian Beltre will make his return to the starting lineup and bat sixth when the Red Sox meet the Texas Rangers on Friday night at Fenway Park.

Beltre sat out Thursday's series opener to give his ailing left hamstring another day to recover. He had wanted to play but was told by manager Terry Francona to give it a little more rest.

Eric Patterson gives Mike Cameron a day off in center field. Patterson is 3-for-5 with a home run, a triple and a walk against Rangers starter Colby Lewis.

Texas gets Josh Hamilton into the lineup a day after he was removed early with a sore right knee.

Here are the lineups for both teams:

Red Sox

Marco Scutaro, SS
Eric Patterson, CF
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
J.D. Drew, RF
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Daniel Nava, LF
Bill Hall, 2B
Kevin Cash, C

Rangers

Elvis Andrus, SS
Michael Young, 3B
Ian Kinsler, 2B
Vladimir Guerrero, DH
Josh Hamilton, CF
Nelson Cruz, RF
David Murphy, LF
Bengie Molina, C
Chris Davis, 1B