Throughout this difficult road trip for the Red Sox, we are left with reminders as to why playing in a National League park is difficult for an American League team.
The obvious issues have been discussed for days. There is no David Ortiz (most days), and pitchers who aren’t used to hitting are stuck in the No. 9 spot. However, it doesn’t end there.
Because of the fact that Ortiz is somewhat attached to the bench, save for a rogue start or two, the Red Sox are already down one big bat, but they can still keep mostly everything else intact. But what happens when just one other key hitter needs a day off after a night game? The whole lineup gets thrown completely out of whack.
That’s the issue Thursday afternoon. Kevin Youkilis, for weeks playing very well despite various physical issues, took a foul ball off his left foot in Wednesday night’s loss. Terry Francona may have eyed Thursday’s quick turnaround as a good time to get Youkilis out of the lineup. The foul ball — which knocked Youkilis to the dirt, where he crawled around in pain — sealed it. Youkilis is due to get precautionary X-rays on the foot, according to reports out of Philadelphia.
And so, we’ve gone beyond the issues created by a lack of a DH. We are at the next stage of scrambling in a National League park, and because of it the Red Sox are going in a very different route.
The struggling Darnell McDonald will bat second against Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels. Dustin Pedroia will start as the cleanup hitter for the fifth time in his career. Jason Varitek starts as the No. 5 hitter for the first time in almost four years.
Josh Reddick will make a rare start against a left-fielder. Drew Sutton takes Youkilis’ spot at third and bats seventh.
Ortiz started for the first time on the trip Wednesday. He went 0-for-4 and the team was limited to one run on a John Lackey RBI double, one of just five hits against Philadelphia pitching. As awkward as Thursday’s batting order looks, perhaps the shakeup can ignite an offense that has scored 15 runs in seven games.
If not, and if Youkilis has to miss more than just Thursday’s game, we could see the return of Ortiz to first and Adrian Gonzalez to right field during the upcoming series in Houston. With their No. 5 hitter on the bench and their cleanup hitter now sidelined, the Sox have gone about as far down this road as they can.
