It is not surprising that the Boston Red Sox have their work cut out for them in their four-game set against the Houston Astros this weekend.
Still, things haven’t exactly gone according to plan for the visitors.
The Sox dropped the first two games of the series entering Game 3 on Saturday evening at Minute Maid Park.
Boston will send out its hottest pitcher Saturday, as David Price will be on the mound, opposed by an equally hot pitcher in Justin Verlander. The Sox have won in each of Price’s last four starts since he missed an outing so he could get his hand examined.
In those four outings, Price is 3-0 and has posted a 2.49 ERA while holding hitters to a .191 batting average. Verlander, meanwhile, has a league-leading 1.11 ERA this season with a 7-2 record.
With Mookie Betts on the disabled list, Blake Swihart will get the start in right field, while Eduardo Nunez gets the nod at second base after Dustin Pedroia went back on the DL on Saturday.
Here are the full lineups for Saturday’s Red Sox-Astros game:
RED SOX (39-19)
Andrew Benintendi, LF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
J.D. Martinez, DH
Mitch Moreland, 1B
Eduardo Nunez, 2B
Rafael Devers, 3B
Blake Swihart, RF
Christian Vazquez, C
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
David Price, LHP (5-4, 4.04 ERA)
ASTROS (37-22)
George Springer, RF
Alex Bregman, 3B
Jose Altuve, 2B
Carlos Correa, SS
Yuli Gurriel, 1B
Evan Gattis, DH
Max Stassi, C
Marwin Gonzalez, LF
Jake Marisnick, CF
Justin Verlander, RHP (7-2, 1.11 ERA)
