The Red Sox will take the field on Friday night at Fenway Park looking to erase a four-game losing streak. To do so, they're going to have to defeat a foe who is not very familiar at all.
The Sox are welcoming the Oakland Athletics to town, and for much of the Red Sox lineup, they'll be getting their first look at A's starter Josh Outman.
The Boston lineup has seem very limited action against the 26-year-old left-hander. In fact, only Carl Crawford (0-for-3) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (0-for-2) have seen the southpaw before.
J.D. Drew, who struggled against Chicago in his return to the lineup, will get the night off with the left-hander on the mound. In his place will be Mike Cameron, who will hit eighth. Cameron has actually picked up a pair of hits, including a home run, in his last two starts, both coming against left-handers.
The A's, meanwhile, will look for some continued success against Boston starter Clay Buchholz. The righty has struggled in the past against the A's, going just 1-2 in four starts with a 7.31 ERA. Looking at the career numbers of the A's against Buchholz, it's easy to see how that came to be.
Catcher Kurt Suzuki is hitting .571 (4-for-7) against Buchholz to lead the way, but he's not the only one with success. Mark Ellis is a .444 (4-for-9) lifetime hitter against the righty, while Hideki Matsui has seen plenty of Buchholz and also has had some success as well, hitting .375 (6-for-16) for his career.
Here's how the two teams will start.
Boston
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Jed Lowrie, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Mike Cameron, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Oakland
Coco Crisp, CF
David Dejesus, RF
Ty Willingham, LF
Hideki Matsui, DH
Kurt Suzuki, C
Daric Barton, 1B
Mark Ellis, 2B
Kevin Kouzmanoff, 3B
Cliff Pennington, SS
