Will fresh faces help the Boston Red Sox end their skid against the Tampa Bay Rays?
Bobby Dalbec headlines a trio of personnel changes Red Sox manager Alex Cora makes for Wednesday’s tilt with the Rays at Fenway Park. Dalbec returns from an off-day to play first base and bat fifth for Boston, while Kyle Schwarber gets a night off with Tampa Bay sending left-hander Shane McClanahan to the mound.
The Rays have beat the Red Sox on Monday and Tuesday, and Boston is trying both to avoid a sweep and maintain its hold on the American League’s final wild-card spot.
Kevin Plawecki also returns to the Red Sox lineup for his first action since Sunday. He replaces Christian Vázquez at catcher and bats sixth.
Danny Santana starts for the first time since last week when he went on the COVID-19 related injured list. He returned to action Tuesday as a substitute and now is set to start in left field in place of Alex Verdugo and bat seventh.
Nathan Eovaldi is Boston’s starting pitcher. The Red Sox have won four of his last five starts.
Top 100 prospect Josh Lowe, the No. 4 prospect in Tampa Bay’s system per MLB.com, will make his big league debut for the Rays.
NESN will air Red Sox-Rays in full, with pregame coverage starting 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. On the go? You can stream full coverage of the game online at Watch NESN Live.
Here are the full lineups for Wednesday’s Red Sox-Rays game.
RED SOX (79-62)
Kiké Hernández, CF
Hunter Renfroe, RF
J.D. Martinez, DH
Rafael Devers, 3B
Bobby Dalbec, 1B
Kevin Plawecki, C
Danny Santana, LF
José Iglesias, SS
Jonathan Araúz, 2B
Nathan Eovaldi, RHP (10-8, 3.73 ERA)
RAYS (88-51)
Brandon Lowe, 2B
Wander Franco, SS
Nelson Cruz, DH
Austin Meadows, LF
Ji-Man Choi, 1B
Manuel Margot, CF
Joey Wendle, 3B
Josh Lowe, RF
Mike Zunino, C
Shane McClanahan, LHP (9-5, 3.76 ERA)
