The Red Sox will have David Ross behind the plate as they try to take a 2-0 advantage in the ALDS against David Price and the Rays.
Boston Red Sox (1-0)
- Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
- Shane Victorino, RF
- Dustin Pedoria, 2B
- David Ortiz, DH
- Mike Napoli, 1B
- Jonny Gomes, LF
- Will Middlebrooks, 3B
- Stephen Drew, SS
- David Ross, C
Starting Pitcher -- John Lackey
Tampa Bay Rays (0-1)
- David DeJesus, LF
- Wil Myers, RF
- James Loney, 1B
- Evan Longoria, 3B
- Ben Zobrist, 2B
- Desmond Jennings, CF
- Delmon Young, DH
- Yunel Escobar, SS
- Jose Molina, C
Starting Pitcher -- David Price
I think we can officially call it: with Stephen Drew starting against both David Price and Matt Moore, there's simply no way we're seeing much of Xander Bogaerts this October, no matter how many wasted plate appearances against lefties that might mean. As for David Ross, this was a move John Farrell had planned before the series even began, so there's no need to worry about Jarrod Saltalamacchia or, frankly, about Ross himself at the plate--he's hit .259/.322/.481 against left-handed pitchers this year, helping to compensate (when healthy) for Saltalamacchia's deficiency in that particular split.
Of course, that leaves him only as well off as any other decent righty against David Price, which is to say that it doesn't leave him very well off at all. Four of Price's five starts against Boston could easily be characterized as dominant. And while that fifth one was kind of a disaster, that just means the Sox can hope against hope that he'll be having an off day today.
If John Lackey can be at his best, then the Red Sox could eke out a close one. But there's no denying that a lot has to go right to take one from David Price. This is the game that's had Sox fans hoping some other team would knock out the Rays ahead of time.