Red Sox Vs. Guardians Lineups: Tyler O’Neill Makes Return

The Red Sox will attempt to stay undefeated on their six-game road trip Tuesday, as they open a series against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field.

Boston is coming off a series sweep against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and have reinforcements coming in Tyler O’Neill.

O’Neill will return to the lineup for the first time in a week, as he was reinstated from the injured list Tuesday. Rafael Devers was expected to also return but isn’t scheduled to start for the series opener. O’Neill will be the DH, keeping Masataka Yoshida out of the lineup for the second consecutive game.

Ceddanne Rafaela will remain in the leadoff spot while Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Rob Refsnyder continue to patrol the outfield. They’ll all combine with O’Neill to make up the top half of the order.

Enmanuel Valdez, Bobby Dalbec and Pablo Reyes will make up the rest of the infield, with Rafaela continuing to hold things down through the Red Sox’s injury woes. Valdez is one of just three left-handed hitters (Duran, Abreu) in the lineup against Cleveland right-hander Ben Lively. Connor Wong will catch for Tanner Houck, just as he did in the right-hander’s gem against the Guardians last week.

The Red Sox and Guardians are scheduled to take the field at 6:10 p.m. ET on NESN, following an hour of pregame coverage. We’ve got the projected lineups for both clubs right here.

BOSTON RED SOX (13-10)
Ceddanne Rafaela, SS
Jarren Duran, CF
Tyler O’Neill, DH
Wilyer Abreu, LF
Rob Refsnyder, RF
Enmanuel Valdez, 2B
Connor Wong, C
Bobby Dalbec, 1B
Pablo Reyes, 3B

Tanner Houck, RHP (3-1, 1.35 ERA)

CLEVELAND GUARDIANS (16-6)
Steven Kwan, LF
Andrés Giménez, 2B
José Ramírez, 3B
Josh Naylor, 1B
Will Brennan, RF
Tyler Freeman, CF
Estevan Florial, DH
Bo Naylor, C
Brayan Rocchio, SS

Ben Lively, RHP (0-1, 3.60 ERA)