For the third straight game Red Sox manager Terry Francona has elected to start Josh Reddick over J.D. Drew in right field as the 24-year-old gets the nod for Saturday night's matchup against the Mariners.
The young outfielder has made his manager look smart every time he plays. Reddick is hitting .372 in 86 at-bats this season and has driven in 18 runs. He currently sports a four-game hitting streak and has seven hits in his last 15 plate appearances. Reddick went 1-for-4 in Friday's 7-4 Sox win, reaching on an infield single in the second inning.
All this is good news for Boston but bad news for Drew who appears to have at least temporarily lost his starting spot in right field. The 35-year-old is hitting a career-worst .219 and has struck out 56 times. Dating back to July 2, Drew is just 5-for-37 with eight strikeouts.
The only change from Friday's lineup for Boston is the return of Jason Varitek behind the plate. The captain will bat eighth and do the catching for Josh Beckett, who is coming off a tremendous shutout performance of the Rays from last Sunday night. Tek replaces Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who has homered in two of his last three games.
Seattle's lineup features changes at catcher and center field as Josh Bard gets the start behind the plate over Miguel Olivo and Franklin Gutierrez patrols center over Friday's starter Greg Halman. The M's will send rookie Blake Beavan to the mound in his fourth career start. The 22-year-old righty is 1-1 this season.
Here are the Saturday lineups for both clubs.
Seattle
Ichiro Suzuki, RF
Brendan Ryan, SS
Dustin Ackley, 2B
Justin Smoak, 1B
Adam Kennedy, 3B
Mike Carp, LF
Jack Cust, DH
Franklin Gutierrez, CF
Josh Bard, C
Boston
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Carl Crawford, LF
Josh Reddick, RF
Jason Varitek, C
Marco Scutaro, SS
