That whole "let's try and play Pedro Ciriaco in center field" thing didn't go so well on Thursday night. After a couple miscues which led to doubles, Ciriaco was lifted a third of the way through the game in favor of Jacoby Ellsbury.
However, the word on the street is that Ellsbury is currently dealing with a "situation" and wasn't supposed to play Thursday — and won't be in the lineup on Friday. So the Sox turn to Scott Podsednik to fill that role, who has spent the majority of his career in center. It was certainly a nice idea to try and give Ciriaco a chance to expand his super utility man credentials, but center is a completely different animal from the corner outfield spots, so suffice to say the outfield defense should be upgraded from Thursday.
Ciriaco does, however, stay in the leadoff role and moves back to third base, where he's looked pretty comfortable in mostly regular duty at the hot corner since Will Middlebrooks went down with a broken wrist. Ciriaco can't duplicate Middlebrooks' power numbers, but his speed and timely hitting are earning him consideration for a guaranteed roster spot heading into 2013.
Ryan Lavarnway also gets his third consecutive start behind the plate, while Jarrod Saltalamacchia takes his at-bats as the designated hitter. For the rookie Lavarnway, it's another chance to show his value on defense and get some more work in with major league pitchers, so we'll see if he can grow into his Red Sox "catcher of the future" designation.
Aside from that, Daniel Nava and Cody Ross man the corner outfield spots, James Loney returns to first base, and Jose Iglesias — a night after hitting his first career major league home run — hopes to continue his hot hitting while playing shortstop.
Check out the lineups for both the Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles below:
Baltimore Orioles
Nate Mclouth, LF
J.J. Hardy, SS
Adam Jones, CF
Matt Wieters, C
Mark Reynolds, 1B
Lew Ford, DH
Manny Machado, 3B
Endy Chavez, RF
Robert Andino, 2B
Miguel Gonzalez, RHP
Boston Red Sox
Pedro Ciriaco, 3B
Scott Podsednik, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Cody Ross, RF
Ryan Lavarnway, C
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, DH
James Loney, 1B
Daniel Nava, LF
Jose Iglesias, SS
Jon Lester, LHP
