Yoenis Cespedes left Wednesday’s game in Cincinnati with a right hand contusion. He won’t miss any more time with that injury, though, as he’s back in the Boston Red Sox’s lineup Thursday.
Cespedes will hit fourth and play left field as the Red Sox open a four-game series with the Houston Astros at Fenway Park.
Cespedes has been really good since the Red Sox picked him up from the Oakland Athletics in a blockbuster trade July 31. He’s hitting .268 (11-for-41) in 10 games with his new team, and that includes two late-inning home runs on Boston’s most recent road trip. Cespedes hit game-winning blasts Sunday in Anaheim and Tuesday in Cincinnati.
Xander Bogaerts will have the night off for the Red Sox, so Brock Holt will slide over to shortstop.
The Red Sox will face Astros right-hander Scott Feldman, whom they’ve had collective success against in the past. Mike Napoli is a .414 (12-for-29) career hitter against Feldman, and five Red Sox — Napoli, Daniel Nava, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Christian Vazquez — have at least three career RBIs against him. The Red Sox roughed up Feldman on July 11, tagging him for seven runs on 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Allen Webster will start for the Red Sox. He went 6 2/3 innings in his last start, allowing just two runs on four hits in an Aug. 8 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
Here are the lineups for both teams.
Red Sox (54-65)
Brock Holt, SS
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Yoenis Cespedes, LF
Mike Napoli, 1B
Daniel Nava, RF
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Christian Vazquez, C
Allen Webster, P (2-1, 4.91 ERA)
Astros (50-71)
Robbie Grossman, LF
Jose Altuve, 2B
Chris Carter, DH
Dexter Fowler, CF
Jason Castro, C
Jon Singleton, 1B
Matt Dominguez, 3B
Marwin Gonzalez, SS
Scott Feldman, P (6-8, 4.14 ERA)
