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Brent Lillibridge will get his first start for the Boston Red Sox Tuesday, playing center field and batting ninth against Toronto southpaw Aaron Laffey.
Lillibridge, who came over from Chicago in the Kevin Youkilis, has had a terrible year so far, and has actually had an even worse time of things against lefties, with two hits and eight strikeouts in 25 at bats. Still, over the last three years he has an OPS north of .850 against left-handed pitching, leaving him the choice in the outfield--along with Darnell McDonald--over Daniel Nava and his .704 OPS against.
Cody Ross, meanwhile, will once again take over at the cleanup position against the left-hander. The great Jarrod Saltalamacchia experiment didn't really work out yesterday, but Cody Ross against lefties is certainly preferable to Jarrod Saltalamacchia against righties, even without disparaging Salty.
What we really need tonight, though, is some decent pitching. And that's far from a guarantee with Daisuke Matsuzaka on the mound.