It’s been a bit of a bumpy ride for Trevor Story to begin his Boston Red Sox career.
The newly signed infielder will miss a second straight game when the Sox open a three-game set with the Tigers in Detroit on Monday. Story is battling a non-COVID illness that kept him out of the series finale Sunday night in New York, and he didn’t travel with the team to Motown, manager Alex Cora told MLB Network Radio on Monday.
With Story down again, Jonathan Araúz will make his second consecutive start at second base. He went hitless Sunday night but did contribute with a sacrifice fly in the win over the Yankees.
Despite hitting the game-winning home run Sunday in the Bronx, Bobby Dalbec gets the night off for the series opener in Detroit. Travis Shaw, who won a job in spring training, will get his first action of the season. Eight of his nine home runs a season ago came against right-handed pitching.
Jackie Bradley Jr. also returns to the Boston lineup.
Michael Wacha will make the first start of his Red Sox career on the mound. The former All-Star has struggled at times over the last two seasons with the Mets and Rays, but when he’s good, he tends to be really good. Wacha led the majors last season with four starts of five innings, no runs and one hit or less allowed.
The Tigers send 24-year-old Matt Manning to the mound for the opener. Manning, who has allowed 55 earned runs in 85 1/3 career innings, has never faced anyone in the Boston batting order.
First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET with full pregame coverage beginning at 4 p.m. on NESN. There is rain in the forecast in Detroit that could be a slight issue Monday night.
Here are the lineups for both teams.
BOSTON RED SOX (1-2)
Kiké Hernández, CF
Rafael Devers, 3B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
J.D. Martinez, DH
Alex Verdugo, LF
Christian Vázquez, C
Travis Shaw, 1B
Jonathan Araúz, 2B
Jackie Bradley Jr., RF
RHP Michael Wacha
DETROIT TIGERS (1-2)
Robbie Grossman, RF
Austin Meadows, LF
Javier Baez, SS
Jeimer Candelario, 3B
Miguel Cabrera, DH
Jonathan Schoop, 2B
Harold Castro, 1B
Tucker Barnhart, C
Akil Baddoo, CF
RHP Matt Manning
