Jacoby Ellsbury Out of Lineup as Aaron Cook Faces Orioles Team That Cut Him Deep First Time Out

by abournenesn

Sep 22, 2012

Jacoby Ellsbury Out of Lineup as Aaron Cook Faces Orioles Team That Cut Him Deep First Time OutWhen Aaron Cook stepped to the mound May 5 against the Orioles, he was the latest in a line of Red Sox hopefuls looking to turn around an early Boston slide.

Cook pitched admirably at first, zipping through a couple of innings. Then he ran to cover home on a throw to the plate, and one nasty spiking later, the Orioles had gained the upper hand on Cook, the game and even the entire season.

Cook missed some time with that nasty gash to his leg, and he's never quite found the consistency since to show he's able to carry the starting load regularly. While he's been serviceable for the Red Sox at times this season, his 4-10 record and 4.93 ERA show the true story: His year has had more lows than highs.

Nevertheless, Cook is the man on the mound as the Red Sox aim to steal a few from the Orioles, who are still fighting for the American League East title. Cook has faced the Birds one other time this season — an Aug. 15 start when he went 5 1/3 innings and gave up two earned runs on three hits. He'll be opposite Randy Wolf (5-10, 5.66), who pitched three times in relief this month before a four-inning start Sept. 16.

The Red Sox will be without the bat of Jacoby Ellsbury as the center fielder sits out with a reported lat injury, while Danny Valencia gets his first big league action since August, when he appeared in a few games for the Red Sox after being traded from the Twins.

Here are the complete lineups for Saturday:

Red Sox (68-84)

Pedro Ciriaco, DH
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Cody Ross, RF
Ryan Lavarnway, C
Mauro Gomez, 1B
Mike Aviles, SS
Danny Valencia, 3B
Daniel Nava, LF
Scott Podsednik, CF

Aaron Cook, P

Orioles (86-64)

Nate McLouth, LF
J.J. Hardy, SS
Adam Jones, CF
Matt Wieters, C
Jim Thome, DH
Mark Reynolds, 1B
Chris Davis, RF
Manny Machado, 3B
Ryan Flaherty, 2B

Randy Wolf, P

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