Ryan Lavarnway Back Behind the Plate, Up to Fifth Spot in Red Sox Lineup for Finale With Orioles

by

Sep 28, 2011

After being activated from the disabled list on Sunday and hitting an RBI single against Yankees, J.D. Drew will start in right field and bat sixth for the Red Sox, who are battling with the Rays for the American League wild card spot.

Ryan Lavarnway will start at catcher for the second night in a row and for the just the second time in his career. He will bat fifth, and will try to keep momentum after hitting two home runs Tuesday night.

The Red Sox will put Jon Lester (15-9, 3.49 ERA) on the mound on short rest. The Yankees got the best of Lester on Saturday, as the left-hander gave up eight earned runs in just 2 2/3 innings.

Opposing Lester will be Alfredo Simon (4-9. 4.85), who gave up eight hits and three runs in a 4-0 loss against the Red Sox on July 9.

Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz will bat one, two and three respectively. Adrian Gonzalez will bat cleanup and start at first base.

After Lavarnway and Drew, Marco Scutaro will bat sixth and start at shortstop. Carl Crawford and Mike Aviles round out the lineup.

Here are the complete lineups.

Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Ryan Lavarnway, C
J.D. Drew, RF
Marco Scutaro, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Mike Aviles, 3B

Orioles
Robert Andino, 2B
J.J. Hardy, SS
Nick Markakis, RF
Vladimir Guerrero, DH
Matt Wieters, C
Adam Jones, CF
Mark Reynolds, 1B
Chris Davis, 3B
Nolan Reimold, LF

Previous Article

Clay Buchholz Activated Prior to Regular-Season Finale in Baltimore, Could Be Factor If Red Sox Advance

Next Article

Hockey East Gets Rare Coaching Shake-Up As Northeastern, Providence, UMass-Lowell All Welcome New Bench Bosses

Picked For You