The Boston Red Sox should thrive against the Minnesota Twins if the bottom of their batting order keeps producing.
Travis Shaw returns to the Red Sox starting lineup for Tuesday night’s matchup with the Twins. Shaw dramatically hit a walk-off grand slam Monday against the Texas Rangers, having entered the game as a substitute. He starts at first base and bats eighth Tuesday and will look to punish the Twins at the plate and in the field.
The top of the Red Sox batting order remains the same, with second baseman Kiké Hernández and left fielder Kyle Schwarber batting first and second, respectively.
Designated hitter J.D. Martinez drops from third to fifth as part of a larger shuffle in the latter part of Boston’s order. After going 3-for-4 with a home run Monday, center fielder Alex Verdugo moves up to No. 6 from No. 8 in the order. Right fielder Hunter Renfroe, who hit a moon-shot of his own Monday, moves down from sixth to seventh.
Catcher Christian Vázquez returns from two days off and bats ninth.
Tanner Houck is Boston’s starting pitcher, following his recall from Triple-A Worcester. Houck in his last two outings has struck out 10 batters and walked none over nine combined innings.
Griffin Jax starts on the mound for the Twins.
NESN will air Red Sox versus Twins in full. Pregame coverage starts at 6 p.m. ET. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m., and postgame coverage immediately will follow the final out. If you can’t catch the game on television, you can stream full coverage of the game online at Watch NESN Live.
Here are the full lineups for Tuesday’s Red Sox-Twins game.
BOSTON RED SOX (71-55)
Kiké Hernández, 2B
Kyle Schwarber, LF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Rafael Devers, 3B
J.D. Martinez, DH
Alex Verdugo, CF
Hunter Renfroe, RF
Travis Shaw, 1B
Christian Vázquez, C
Tanner Houck, RHP (0-3 3.12 ERA)
MINNESOTA TWINS (54-70)
Max Kepler, RF
Brent Rooker, LF
Jorge Polanco, SS
Josh Donaldson, DH
Luis Arraez, 3B
Mitch Garver, C
Nick Gordon, 2B
Miguel Sano, 1B
Jake Cave, CF
Griffin Jax, RHP (3-1 5.11 ERA)
