There will be some familiar faces and some unfamiliar faces in Thursday's lineup against the Blue Jays.
Jacoby Ellsbury will take back the leadoff spot as Marco Scutaro is getting the well-deserved day off. Ellsbury has just three hits since returning to the lineup — all of which came in the No. 9 slot. The speedster owns a .310 career batting average in 37 games against the Jays.
Making his first start as a member of the Red Sox, Jarrod Saltalamacchia is penciled in behind the dish and in the No. 8 slot. Salty will be hitting after Bill Hall, who slugged a pair of homers Wednesday night.
With Scutaro getting the day off, Jed Lowrie will be getting his second start of the season at shortstop. He's batting .311 with five RBIs in 16 games this year.
Mike Lowell gets a rest after starting the last three games. Victor Martinez will bounce from behind the plate to take over first base.
The Sox will be facing lefty Brad Mills, who will make his third start of the season due to a shuffled rotation. Brandon Morrow, who threw 137 pitches in his one-hit shutout against Tampa Bay over the weekend, will be bumped to Aug. 17. Brett Cecil, originally scheduled to start Thursday, was pushed back to Saturday after cutting his right knee tripping on some stairs.
Below is the Red Sox lineup.
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Jed Lowrie, SS
Victor Martinez, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Adrian Beltre, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Bill Hall, 2B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Darnell McDonald, LF
And here's who will be batting against John Lackey and the Sox' staff.
Fred Lewis, DH
Yunel Escobar, SS
Jose Bautista, RF
Vernon Wells, CF
Adam Lind, 1B
Aaron Hill, 2B
Travis Snider, LF
Edwin Encarnacion, 3B
Jose Molina, C
