Red Sox Vs. Royals Lineups: Danny Jansen Starts In Series Finale

The Red Sox will try to sweep the series against the Kansas City Royals in the finale of a three-game set at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday night. Boston won the first two games of the series and outscored the Royals 15-10.

Boston entered the crucial series trailing Kansas City by 2 1/2 games for the final American League wild card spot and closed the gap to just a 1/2 game entering Wednesday night’s contest.

Manager Alex Cora made several changes to the lineup in the finale. Catcher Connor Wong will begin the night at first base with Danny Jansen getting the nod behind the plate. Rob Refsnyder will start in right field giving Wilyer Abreu the night off. Nick Sogard moves over to shortstop after starting at second base in Tuesday night’s win and Romy Gonzalez starts at second.

Before the game, the Red Sox reinstated right-handed pitcher Chris Martin from the 15-day injured list and placed outfielder Tyler O’Neill on the 10-day IL retroactive to Aug. 4 with a leg infection.

First pitch from Kauffman Stadium is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch the live action, plus a full hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.

Here are the starting lineups for Boston and Kansas City:

BOSTON RED SOX (61-51)
Jarren Duran, LF
Rob Refsnyder, RF
Romy Gonzalez, 2B
Rafael Devers, 3B
Connor Wong, 1B
Danny Jansen, C
Masataka Yoshida, DH
Nick Sogard, SS
Ceddanne Rafaela, CF

Kutter Crawford, RHP (7-8, 3.81 ERA)

KANSAS CITY ROYALS (63-52)
Michael Massey, 2B
Bobby Witt Jr., SS
Vinnie Pasquantino, DH
Salvador Perez, 1B
Hunter Renfroe, RF
MJ Melendez, LF
Freddy Fermin, C
Maikel Garcia, 3B
Kyle Isbel, CF

Cole Ragans, LHP (8-7, 3.36 ERA)