The Boston Red Sox have added plenty of reinforcements to their roster since the calendar turned to September, so there’s more breathing room to give players, well, a breather.
The Red Sox activated Jackie Bradley Jr. from the disabled list ahead of Saturday’s game against the New York Yankees and called up infielder Tzu-Wei Lin, allowing the team to give Dustin Pedroia a break after his own DL activation. The 34-year-old gave his usual 110 percent in Friday’s 4-1 win, so Lin will man second base in Pedroia’s stead and bat last. Bradley will get return to the thick of things like Pedroia did and play center field while batting eighth.
Xander Bogaerts will receive another day of rest — he’s played more games this season than all but three of his teammates — while Eduardo Nunez takes over at shortstop and leads off the batting order.
Drew Pomeranz will start Saturday, and although his numbers haven’t been flashy against the Yanks the season — he’s 2-0 with a 3.43 ERA in four starts — the Red Sox have won each of his starts against their biggest rivals. Pomeranz’s last outing against New York on Aug. 18 was cut short by back spasms he suffered in the fourth inning, but Boston still came through with a 9-6 win.
Here are the lineups for Saturday’s matinee.
RED SOX (77-58)
Eduardo Nuñez, SS
Andrew Benintendi, LF
Mookie Betts, RF
Mitch Moreland, 1B
Hanley Ramirez, DH
Rafael Devers, 3B
Christian Vazquez, C
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Tzu-Wei Lin, 2B
Drew Pomeranz, LHP (14-4, 3.23 ERA)
YANKEES (71-63)
Brett Gardner, LF
Aaron Hicks, CF
Gary Sanchez, C
Aaron Judge, RF
Didi Gregorius, SS
Chase Headley, 3B
Matt Holliday, DH
Greg Bird, 1B
Ronald Torreyes, 2B
Masahiro Tanaka, RHP (10-10, 4.69 ERA)
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
