Another day, another lineup shuffle for the Boston Red Sox ahead of their clash with the New York Yankees.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora restores Jarren Duran to the starting lineup for Friday night’s tilt at Fenway Park, the second contest of a four-game Boston vs. New York series.
Duran began Thursday night’s series opener on the bench, but he entered in the ninth inning as a pinch runner and scored the game-tying run on Kiké Hernández’s two-out, two-RBI double. The Red Sox went on to win 5-4 in a wild 10th inning.
Duran now has the chance to shine for the entire game as he starts in center field and bats second. He represents the only personnel change, but Cora makes a host of alterations to the batting order and elsewhere.
Duran’s return moves Michael Chavis to the bench. Hernández, the leadoff hitter, plays second base in the latter’s place, instead of center field, where the former will roam.
After batting second Thursday, Rafael Devers drops to No. 4 in Boston’s order. Designated hitter J.D. Martinez moves down one spot to fifth, and left fielder Alex Verdugo moves up from seventh to sixth.
Right fielder Hunter Renfroe moves down two spots to seventh, and Christian Vázquez drops to eighth. Bobby Dalbec batted eighth Thursday but will hit ninth Friday.
Eduardo Rodriguez is the Red Sox’s starting pitcher. Boston is 7-1 in his last 8 starts.
Gerrit Cole starts for the Yankees and likely will pose a formidable test for the reworked Red Sox batting order.
NESN will air full coverage of Red Sox-Yankees. Pregame coverage starts at 5:30 p.m. ET. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET, and postgame coverage immediately will follow the final out.
Remember, if you’re not near a TV, you can live stream full coverage of the game online at Watch NESN Live.
Here are the starting lineups for Friday’s Sox-Yankees game.
RED SOX (59-38)
Kiké Hernández, 2B
Jarren Duran, CF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Rafael Devers, 3B
J.D. Martinez, DH
Alex Verdugo, LF
Hunter Renfroe, RF
Christian Vázquez, C
Bobby Dalbec, 1B
Eduardo Rodriguez, LHP (7-5, 5.19 ERA)
YANKEES (50-45)
DJ LeMahieu, 3B
Giancarlo Stanton, DH
Rougned Odor, 2B
Gary Sanchez, C
Gleyber Torres, SS
Brett Gardner, CF
Chris Gittens, 1B
Ryan LaMarre, LF
Greg Allen, RF
Gerrit Cole, RHP (10-4, 2.63 ERA)
