The Red Sox will get their starting third baseman back Thursday night, as Will Middlebrooks is scheduled to get the start after sitting out Wednesday’s contest with lingering soreness from his collision with David Ross. Ross will also be back in the lineup in the series finale, allowing Red Sox Nation to breathe a collective sigh of relief that both injuries turned out to be minor.
The team will hope to get its groove back, as well, as Wednesday’s 15-8 shellacking at the hands of the Twins marked Boston’s fifth loss in six games. Middlebrooks has had an especially rough year thus far, with his .192 batting average ranking dead last on the current roster. He’ll look to find a spark against Minnesota’s Kevin Correia, whom he has never faced in his career.
When the Twins come to bat, John Lackey will hope to cool off red-hot Ryan Doumit, who has gone 6-for-9 with a double, two home runs, three RBIs and five runs scored over the last two games.
Check out the full starting lineups below.
Boston Red Sox (21-13)
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Shane Victorino, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Daniel Nava, LF
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Stephen Drew, SS
David Ross, C
John Lackey, SP
Minnesota Twins (15-15)
Brian Dozier, 2B
Joe Mauer, C
Josh Willingham, LF
Justin Morneau, 1B
Trevor Plouffe, 3B
Ryan Doumit, DH
Oswaldo Arcia, RF
Aaron Hicks, CF
Pedro Florimon, SS
Kevin Correia, SP
