The Red Sox are headed into the final road trip of the regular season with a noticeably different look in the lineup Tuesday night against the Texas Rangers.
Manager Chad Tracy shuffled the order for the series opener at Globe Life Field, putting Mickey Gasper in the designated hitter spot and into the No. 2 hole, while Adley Rutschman moves up to third. Boston’s biggest lineup boost comes in center field, where Jarren Duran is back after sitting out Sunday’s 4-1 win over the Kansas City Royals and will hit seventh.
Boston also set up its order with a heavy dose of left-handed bats against Rangers starter Jacob deGrom. Roman Anthony stays in his usual leadoff spot in left field, followed by Gasper, Rutschman, Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu.
Trevor Story will bat sixth and play shortstop, with Duran, Caleb Durbin and Nick Sogard rounding out the lower half of the lineup. Patrick Sandoval gets the start on the mound for Boston.
Here is the full Red Sox lineup:
Roman Anthony, LF
Mickey Gasper, DH
Adley Rutschman, C
Willson Contreras, 1B
Wilyer Abreu, RF
Trevor Story, SS
Jarren Duran, CF
Caleb Durbin, 3B
Nick Sogard, 2B
Patrick Sandoval, P
The changes mean Gasper takes over at designated hitter for Jahmai Jones, who started and batted second Sunday. Rutschman slides from fifth to third, and Abreu drops from third to fifth.
Duran’s return also pushes Durbin and Sogard down a spot. Nate Eaton, who started in center field in Sunday’s finale, is out of the lineup.
Boston is trying to keep its momentum going after back-to-back wins over Kansas City. The Red Sox enter at 82-68, third in the American League East and five games behind the New York Yankees, though the immediate focus is tightening up their position in the wild-card race.
The matchup is a tough one. deGrom comes in with a 10-9 record, a 3.80 ERA and 186 strikeouts. Sandoval, meanwhile, is 1-5 with a 4.58 ERA and has a major assignment in front of him as Boston looks to keep stacking wins.
Sunday’s victory gave the Red Sox some timely production from the middle of the order, with Rutschman, Contreras and Story each collecting two hits. Anthony delivered the go-ahead single in the seventh, and Story followed with a two-run single in the eighth.
Texas enters at 74-76 but is still very much in the mix in the AL West, sitting one game behind the Houston Astros. So even with different postseason paths, there’s plenty on the line for both clubs.
First pitch is set for 8:05 p.m. ET, and the game will air on NESN.
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