Yankee-Killer Pedro Ciriaco Leads Red Sox Lineup as Boston Tries to Secure Series Win Against New York

Whatever your feelings are on Pedro Ciriaco's long-term viability as an everyday player in the Red Sox lineup, everybody should agree on one thing: when Boston is playing the Yankees, Ciriaco needs to be starting.

After two game-winning hits earlier in the year against New York, on Tuesday night Ciriaco came around to score the walkoff run on Jacoby Ellsbury's ninth-inning single, pushing the Sox to a 4-3 victory. After hitting .348 in July and .322 in August, however, Ciriaco has thoroughly come back down to earth, hitting .167 in September as the book in the 26-year-old (don't throw him strikes, he'll chase nearly anything) has clearly gotten around the league. But tell that to the Yankees.

Meanwhile, with a home run on Tuesday, Dustin Pedroia has thoroughly settled into the No. 3 hole in the order, proving the middle-of-the-order bat the Sox have been missing every since the team's blockbuster trade back in August.

Otherwise, Daniel Nava gets the start in left field with Scott Podsednik taking over the DH role, Jarrod Saltalamacchia appears to be over his bout with back spasms and is back behind the plate and Jose Iglesias gets another chance to show off that marvelous glove at shortstop.

Check out the lineups for both teams below:

New York Yankees
Derek Jeter, SS
Curtis Granderson, CF
Alex Rodriguez, DH
Robinson Cano, 2B
Nick Swisher, 1B
Raul Ibanez, LF
Eric Chavez, 3B
Ichiro Suzuki, RF
Chris Stewart, C

David Phelps, RHP

Boston Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Pedro Ciriaco, 3B
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
James Loney, 1B
Cody Ross, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Daniel Nava, LF
Scott Podsednik, DH
Jose Iglesias, SS

Aaron Cook, RHP