Kevin Youkilis last found himself in the Red Sox lineup on Aug. 17, in the middle of a month in which the third baseman was hitting just .209.
Youkilis' back was acting up, and as a result, he was placed on the 15-day disabled list clearly in need of a break. He returns to the Boston lineup on Friday night, and he's hitting cleanup against Texas Rangers lefty Derek Holland in the first of three games between the two division leaders.
The return of Youkilis means that Dustin Pedroia can now slide back into his normal spot in the lineup hitting second behind Jacoby Ellsbury.
The return of Youkilis also impacts Marco Scutaro and Jed Lowrie as Lowrie had been playing third base for the majority of Youkilis' absence. On Friday night, however, Lowrie will slide over to shortstop to give Scutaro a night off. Lowrie has never faced Holland, but he is hitting .354 this season against left-handed pitching.
Adrian Beltre returned to the Rangers lineup on Thursday night against the Rays for the first time since July 22. This series marks his first return to Boston since signing with Texas in the offseason. Beltre hit .314 with 13 home runs and 50 RBIs at Fenway in his only season with the Sox.
Andrew Miller puts his 6-1 record on the line for the Red Sox to open the set.
Boston
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Jed Lowrie, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Jason Varitek, C
Darnell McDonald, RF
Texas
Ian Kinsler, 2B
Elvis Andrus, SS
Josh Hamilton, LF
Michael Young, 1B
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Yorvit Torrealba, DH
David Murphy, RF
Craig Gentry, CF
