The Red Sox on Thursday will try to leave Tampa Bay with a win and hand the Rays their first loss of the season.
Boston fell 9-7 in Wednesday night’s contest at Tropicana Field after another shaky start from Chris Sale, the Rays’ bats continuing to stay hot and sloppy defense from the Red Sox.
It’s been almost a year since the Red Sox beat the Rays at the Trop. As noted by The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham, the last victory came on April 22, 2022 when Corey Kluber was on the mound for Tampa. Kluber will face his old team as he looks to right the ship for Boston.
The veteran righty will oppose left-hander Jeffrey Springs, who’s in search of his second win of the season.
As for the lineup, Red Sox manager Alex Cora is giving Rafael Devers a day off. Bobby Dalbec, who started at shortstop Wednesday, will man third base and bat fifth. Yu Chang will play short while Kiké Hernández will play his second straight game in center field. Masataka Yoshida remains out of the lineup as he deals with hamstring tightness.
First pitch from Tropicana Field is set for 1:10 p.m. ET. You can catch all the action beginning at noon on NESN.
Here are the lineups for both teams:
BOSTON RED SOX (5-7)
Alex Verdugo, RF
Justin Turner, DH
Rob Refsnyder, LF
Triston Casas, 1B
Bobby Dalbec, 3B
Kiké Hernández, CF
Reese McGuire, C
Yu Chang, SS
Christian Arroyo, 2B
Corey Kluber, RHP (0-2, 6.48 ERA)
TAMPA BAY RAYS (12-0)
Yandy DÃaz, 1B
Brandon Lowe, 2B
Randy Arozarena, LF
Wander Franco, SS
Luke Raley, RF
Harold Ramirez, DH
Taylor Walls, 3B
Josh Lowe, CF
Francisco Mejia, C
Jeffrey Springs, LHP (0.00 ERA)
