The Boston Red Sox’s offense finally broke out in Tuesday’s 8-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles, so manager John Farrell is electing to keep that lineup relatively intact for Wednesday night’s tilt with the Baltimore Orioles — with one small change.
Sandy Leon will replace Christian Vazquez behind the plate and do the catching for knuckleballer Steven Wright.
After returning to the lineup Tuesday, Xander Bogaerts will continue to bat in the No. 6 hole, while Hanley Ramirez will hit in the cleanup spot. Second basemen Dustin Pedroia, who knocked in four runs in Tuesday’s victory, will look to extend his hitting streak to eight games to begin the season.
Wright was unspectacular in his season-opening start. The Red Sox right-hander allowed four runs in 6 2/3 innings and received a no-decision against the Detroit Tigers.
He will be opposed by Ubaldo Jimenez who was pummeled by the New York Yankees in his first start of the season. Jimenez surrendered five runs and was unable to escape the fifth inning, but the O’s offense picked him up, as he did not factor in the decision.
Here are Wednesday’s Red Sox-Orioles lineups for their 7:10 p.m. ET matchup.
RED SOX (4-3)
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Andrew Benintendi, CF
Mookie Betts, RF
Hanley Ramirez, DH
Mitch Moreland, 1B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Pablo Sandoval, 3B
Chris Young, LF
Sandy Leon, C
Steven Wright, RHP (0-0, 5.40 ERA)
BALTIMORE ORIOLES (4-2)
Seth Smith, RF
Adam Jones, CF
Manny Machado, 3B
Chris Davis, 1B
Mark Trumbo, DH
Welington Castillo, C
Trey Mancini, LF
Jonathan Schoop, 2B
J.J.Hardy, SS
Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP (0-0, 10.38 ERA)
Thumbnail photo via Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports Images
