David Ortiz is saying goodbye to his first major-league home.
The Boston Red Sox designated hitter made his Major League Baseball debut for the Minnesota Twins in 1997, and Friday he’ll start his final series in Minneapolis. Ortiz has enjoyed beating up on his former team in recent years, too, as he has a .435 average, 1.385 OPS and nine home runs in 17 games at Target Field.
Travis Shaw also is back in the lineup and batting seventh after getting the night off Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants, and Christian Vazquez is catching for Steven Wright and batting ninth. Wright only went five innings in his last start against the Toronto Blue Jays, but the knuckleballer will be looking for his fourth consecutive win when he takes the mound Friday.
Here are both teams’ lineups.
RED SOX (34-25)
Mookie Betts, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
David Ortiz, DH
Hanley Ramirez, 1B
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Travis Shaw, 3B
Chris Young, LF
Christian Vazquez, C
Steven Wright, RHP (6-4, 2.29 ERA)
TWINS (18-41)
Eduardo Nunez, SS
Robbie Grossman, LF
Joe Mauer, DH
Trevor Plouffe, 3B
Brian Dozier, 2B
Byung-ho Park, 1B
Max Kepler, RF
Kurt Suzuki, C
Byron Buxton, CF
Tyler Duffey, RHP (2-4, 4.79)
Thumbnail photo via Kelley L Cox/USA TODAY Sports Images
