FORT MYERS, Fla. — With one minor exception, the Red Sox will feature a lineup Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals that will look very much like that of the regular season.
Aside from Jason Varitek starting over Jarrod Saltalamacchia, every other spot is taken up by a regular. Of course, Varitek and Saltalamacchia will be somewhat interchangeable through portions of the schedule.
One reason for Varitek's start in this one could be the presence of Daisuke Matsuzaka on the mound. Matsuzaka has had better results throughout his career throwing to Varitek, and it was that pairing that got the right-hander going in his previous outing.
After scuffling through his first three appearances this spring, Matsuzaka tossed five scoreless frames at Detroit on Tuesday.
Jacoby Ellsbury is batting leadoff, followed by Dustin Pedroia, Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, who will be batting cleanup for the first time in a Red Sox uniform.
Here is the complete Red Sox lineup in support of Matsuzaka:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
J.D. Drew, RF
Jason Varitek, C
Marco Scutaro, SS
