The Boston Red Sox versus Chicago White Sox series has come down to this.
After splitting the first two games of their midweek showdown, Boston and Chicago both will vie for the series win Thursday night at Guaranteed Rate Field in the finale of the three-game set.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora made two personnel changes to the starting lineup he used Wednesday in Boston’s 3-1 loss. With Chicago deploying left-handed starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel, right-handed-hitting Bobby Dalbec replaces Franchy Cordero as the first baseman and No. 8 batter. Christian Arroyo starts in right field and bats ninth, ending Jackie Bradley Jr.’s run of four consecutive starts.
Elsewhere, Cora tweaked the batting order by swapping Trevor Story and Alex Verdugo’s spots to fifth and sixth, respectively.
Michael Wacha is the Red Sox starting pitcher. The righty has set a Red Sox record with six consecutive starts with two or fewer runs and four or fewer hits allowed. A seventh such outing would position Boston nicely to take the series and move closer to .500.
NESN will air Red Sox versus White Sox in full, with pregame coverage starting at 7 p.m. ET with “Red Sox First Pitch,” followed by “Red Sox Gameday Live.” First pitch from Guaranteed Rate Field is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET. Postgame coverage immediately will follow the final out.
Remember, if you’re on the go, you can stream the game online at Watch NESN Live and on the NESN app.
Here are the full lineups for Thursday’s Red Sox-White Sox game:
BOSTON RED SOX (20-23)
Kiké Hernández, CF
Rafael Devers, 3B
J.D. Martinez, DH
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Trevor Story, 2B
Alex Verdugo, LF
Christian Vázquez, C
Bobby Dalbec, 1B
Christian Arroyo, RF
Michael Wacha, RHP (3-0, 1.76 ERA)
CHICAGO WHITE SOX (22-21)
Tim Anderson, SS
Andrew Vaughn, RF
AJ Pollock, LF
José Abreu, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Gavin Sheets, DH
Jake Burger, 3B
Leury GarcÃa, 2B
Adam Engel, CF
Dallas Keuchel, LHP (2-4, 6.60 ERA)
