J.D. Drew will be atop the lineup for the second time in three days as the Red Sox finish a quick two-game series at Oakland on Wednesday afternoon.
Drew received a rare start at leadoff Sunday against Toronto and proceeded to hammer a triple in the bottom of the first inning, part of a 2-for-4 effort. Jed Lowrie, who batted first in Monday's 5-0 loss to the A's, is dropped to fifth.
Lowrie will be playing third base for the second time this year, bumping Kevin Youkilis into the designated hitter spot and David Ortiz to the bench. Youkilis is 4-for-8 against Oakland lefty Gio Gonzalez. Ortiz is 1-for-7 with three strikeouts.
With Lowrie at third, Marco Scutaro will start at shortstop for the first time since Friday. Jacoby Ellsbury is back in the lineup after a night off.
Here is the complete Boston batting order in support of Clay Buchholz, followed by that of Oakland:
Red Sox
J.D. Drew, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, DH
Jed Lowrie, 3B
Marco Scutaro, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Jason Varitek, C
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
A's
Coco Crisp, CF
Daric Barton, 1B
David DeJesus, RF
Hideki Matsui, DH
Ryan Sweeney, LF
Mark Ellis, 2B
Landon Powell, C
Kevin Kouzmanoff, 3B
Cliff Pennington, SS
