Ryan Sweeney Set to Lead Off for Red Sox Against Rays Ace Jeremy Hellickson

Bobby Valentine prefers to keep Ryan Sweeney's bat out of the Red Sox' leadoff hole. But with the recent success of the Sox lineup, which has scored 34 runs during the team's five-game winning steak, Sweeney will once again lead things off at the top.

Sweeney is batting just .192 with no extra-base hits and only four RBIs during six games (five starts) out of the top spot this season, but his aggressive approach at the plate seems to be stimulating the Red Sox attack.

Boston will certainly need to be aggressive offensively Wednesday night, especially with Rays ace and 2011 American League Rookie of the Year Jeremy Hellickson (3-0, 2.95) on the mound. As for the Red Sox, Clay Buchholz will take the hill looking to follow up on a solid outing –  6 1/3 innings and just three earned runs — in last Friday's game in a 7-5 win against Cleveland.

Red Sox (17-19)
Ryan Sweeney, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Cody Ross, RF
Daniel Nava, LF
Mike Aviles, SS

Clay Buchholz, P

Rays (23-14)
Ben Zobrist, RF
B.J. Upton, CF
Matt Joyce, LF
Carlos Pena, 1B
Luke Scott, DH
Sean Rodriguez, 3B
Rhymes, 2B
Bengie Molina, C
Johnson, SS

Jeremy Hellickson, P