With Kevin Youkilis sidelined for Friday night (and perhaps longer), the Red Sox' lineup looks a little different.
David Ortiz, who's batted fifth in 105 games this season, will bat cleanup for the 15th time of the year. He's been good in that role thus far, posting a 1.026 OPS, .306 batting average, five home runs and 10 RBIs in 49 at-bats. Ortiz also has solid numbers against Rays starter James Shields (.286 average, 1.028 OPS).
Marco Scutaro, among the hottest hitters in baseball right now, bats sixth and is hitting .259 against Shields. Mike Aviles gets the start at third base in place of Youkilis, and he, too, carries good numbers against Shields, though in limited appearances (3-for-8).
The complete lineups for both teams are below.
Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Josh Reddick, RF
Marco Scutaro, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Jason Varitek, C
Mike Aviles, 3B
Josh Beckett, P
Rays
Brandon Jennings, LF
B.J. Upton, CF
Evan Longoria, 3B
Casey Kotchman, 1B
Johnny Damon, DH
Ben Zobrist, 2B
John Jaso, C
Reid Brignac, SS
James Shields, P
