The Boston Red Sox kick off a 10-game West Coast swing Friday night against the Oakland Athletics at RingCentral Coliseum.
Nathan Eovaldi will take the ball for Boston as the Sox and A’s begin a three-game series in Oakland. He’ll be opposed by Athletics starter James Kaprielian.
Eovaldi is coming off a complete-game win his last time out against the Baltimore Orioles. He allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits with six strikeouts and one walk Saturday as the Sox beat the O’s in the first game of a doubleheader at Fenway Park.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora is rolling out a fairly standard lineup Friday in wake of Thursday’s off-day. The Red Sox just had a seven-game homestand in which they went 3-4 against the Orioles and Cincinnati Reds, an underwhelming result given the lackluster competition and Boston’s recent surge following a slow start to the 2022 season.
Kiké Hernández will return to the leadoff spot Friday after sitting out Wednesday’s 7-1 win over Cincinnati. He’ll start in center field, where he’ll be sandwiched between left fielder Alex Verdugo and right fielder Franchy Cordero.
Cordero, who held down the leadoff spot in Hernández’s absence, will bat seventh, ahead of first baseman Bobby Dalbec and catcher Kevin Plawecki.
Pregame coverage on NESN begins at 8:30 p.m. ET with “Red Sox First Pitch,” followed by “Red Sox Gameday Live.” First pitch from Oakland is scheduled for 9:40 p.m. ET.
Here are the full lineups for Friday’s Red Sox vs. Athletics matchup:
BOSTON RED SOX (24-27)
Kiké Hernández, CF
Rafael Devers, 3B
J.D. Martinez, DH
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Alex Verdugo, LF
Trevor Story, 2B
Franchy Cordero, RF
Bobby Dalbec, 1B
Kevin Plawecki, C
Nathan Eovaldi, RHP (2-2, 3.77 ERA)
OAKLAND ATHLETICS (20-33)
Tony Kemp, 2B
Ramón Laureano, RF
Jed Lowrie, DH
Seth Brown, 1B
Elvis Andrus, SS
Chad Pinder, LF
Sean Murphy, C
Kevin Smith, 3B
Cristian Pache, CF
James Kaprielian, RHP (0-2, 5.93 ERA)
