The Boston Red Sox are playing the matchup Friday night against the New York Yankees.
Nestor Cortes will toe the rubber for the Yankees, who won Thursday’s series opener 6-5, and he’s been especially tough on left-handed hitters this season, holding them to a .116/.156/.186 slash line with 16 strikeouts in 45 plate appearances.
As such, Red Sox manager Alex Cora is stacking his lineup with right-handed bats in the hopes of breaking through against the 27-year-old southpaw.
Rafael Devers and Alex Verdugo will be the only left-handed hitters in Boston’s lineup, batting second and sixth, respectively.
Rob Refsnyder and Christian Arroyo, two right-handed hitters, will join Verdugo in the outfield, forcing Jackie Bradley Jr. and Jarren Duran, two left-handed hitters, to the bench. Refsnyder will lead off and play center field, while Arroyo will bat eighth and patrol right field.
Bobby Dalbec will start at first base and round out the order, with Franchy Cordero taking a seat to kick off the second game of the teams’ four-game set at Fenway Park.
Connor Seabold will take the ball for Boston, marking his fourth career major league start. The right-hander allowed one run on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks in four innings against the Chicago Cubs his last time out.
The Red Sox recalled Seabold from Triple-A Worcester before Friday’s game. To make room, Boston placed Michael Wacha (right shoulder inflammation) on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to July 5.
Friday night’s first pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET. Pregame coverage on NESN begins at 5:30 p.m.
The full lineups for Red Sox vs. Yankees are below.
BOSTON RED SOX (45-38)
Rob Refsnyder, CF
Rafael Devers, 3B
J.D. Martinez, DH
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Christian Vázquez, C
Alex Verdugo, LF
Trevor Story, 2B
Christian Arroyo, RF
Bobby Dalbec, 1B
Connor Seabold, RHP (0-1, 8.31 ERA)
NEW YORK YANKEES (60-23)
DJ LeMahieu, 1B
Aaron Judge, DH
Matt Carpenter, LF
Gleyber Torres, 2B
Josh Donaldson, 3B
Aaron Hicks, CF
Jose Trevino, C
Marwin González, SS
Joey Gallo, RF
Nestor Cortes, LHP (7-3, 2.44 ERA)
