BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox will send their ace, David Price, to the mound Friday in desperate need of a win after a disappointing series against the New York Yankees during which the Bronx Bombers took two out of three games at Fenway Park.
Price will oppose the Arizona Diamondbacks, who’ve arrived in Boston for a three-game weekend series.
The veteran starter is 9-8 with a 4.34 ERA this season. He gave up three earned runs and six hits in his last outing, which was a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 7.
Arizona should provide a good test for Boston pitching. The D-Backs rank third among the 15 National League clubs in batting average, and fifth in both runs scored and OPS.
Mookie Betts (calf) returns to the lineup and bats third for Boston. He missed Thursday’s matchup with the Yankees.
The Red Sox, who are 19-20 in their last 39 games, have a slim half-game lead over the Detroit Tigers for the second wild-card playoff spot in the American League entering Friday.
Here are the lineups for both teams.
BOSTON RED SOX (61-52)
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Mookie Betts, RF
David Ortiz, DH
Hanley Ramirez, 1B
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Aaron Hill, 3B
Bryan Holaday, C
Andrew Benintendi, LF
David Price, LHP (9-8, 4.34 ERA)
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS (48-66)
Jean Segura, 2B
Phil Gosselin, 1B
Paul Goldschmidt, DH
Rickie Weeks, LF
Chris Owings, SS
Brandon Drury, RF
Jake Lamb, 3B
Tuffy Gosewisch, C
Michael Bourn, CF
Patrick Corbin, LHP (4-11, 5.37 ERA)
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
