FORT MYERS, Fla. – When the Red Sox open the regular season at Texas on April 1, they may utilize a lineup very much like the one being featured Monday night against the New York Yankees.
Boston faces Rangers lefty C.J. Wilson on Opening Day, which could cause manager Terry Francona to use Mike Cameron instead of J.D. Drew in right field. Cameron is in Monday's lineup with the rest of the expected starters.
Adrian Gonzalez is getting his second start in a Red Sox uniform on Monday. He will bat fifth and play first base. Gonzalez was 1-for-1 with a sacrifice fly in his debut for Boston on Saturday.
Those curious with the nature of the batting order should not read much into Gonzalez hitting fifth in this one. On Saturday, the Red Sox scored four runs in the first two innings and Gonzalez, who was batting third, ate up his two plate appearances early. Francona may just want to ensure that Gonzalez gets an extra inning or two out of this one by batting him a tad lower.
Here are the complete batting orders for both teams:
Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Kevin Youkils, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Cameron, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Marco Scutaro, SS
Yankees
Brett Gardner, LF
Ramiro Pena, SS
Curtis Granderson, CF
Nick Swisher, RF
Eric Chavez, 1B
Eduardo Nunez, 2B
Ronnie Belliard, 3B
Jorge Vazquez, DH
Jesus Montero, C
