Danny Santana’s latest chance to spark the Boston Red Sox to victory comes against the Kansas City Royals.
The Red Sox center fielder bats leadoff Saturday at Kaufmann Stadium in the second of the three-game Boston-K.C. series. Santana batted ninth Friday in Boston’s 5-3 loss. He returns to the top of the batting order for the first time since June 9.
Left fielder Alex Verdugo bats second. Right fielder Hunter Renfroe bats sixth and rounds out the outfield.
The left side of the Red Sox infield remains consistent, as shortstop Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers bat fourth and fifth, respectively. However, the right side contains a couple of changes, as Kiké Hernández returns from two games on the bench to play second base, and Bobby Dalbec returns from a night off to play first base. Hernández and Dalbec bat eighth and ninth, respectively.
J.D. Martinez is the designated hitter and bats third.
Christian Vázquez bats seventh and will catch for starting pitcher MartÃn Pérez, who has struggled in his last two starts.
Brad Keller starts on the mound for Kansas City.
NESN will air Red Sox-Royals in full, with pregame coverage starting at 3 p.m. ET. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m., and postgame coverage immediately will follow the final out. If you’re not near a TV, you can live stream full coverage of the game online at Watch NESN Live.
Here are the lineups for both teams:
RED SOX (42-28)
Danny Santana, CF
Alex Verdugo, LF
J.D. Martinez, DH
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Rafael Devers, 3B
Hunter Renfroe, RF
Christian Vázquez, C
Kiké Hernández, 2B
Bobby Dalbec, 1B
MartÃn Pérez, LHP (4-4, 4.52 ERA)
ROYALS (31-37)
Whit Merrifield, RF
Carlos Santana, 1B
Salvador Perez, C
Jorge Soler, DH
Hunter Dozier, LF
Kelvin Gutierrez, 3B
Hanser Alberto, 2B
Michael A. Taylor, CF
Nicky Lopez, SS
Brad Keller, RHP (6-6, 6.14 ERA)
