Red Sox vs. White Sox: Mike Napoli returns to Boston lineup

Just two days after dislocating his ring finger, Mike Napoli is back at first base and batting cleanup as the Red Sox try to earn a series victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Obviously it's good to have Napoli back in the order, to say nothing of how much better his glove is at first than Daniel Nava's (as evidenced by last night's circus act in the first). Still, even if there's only so much to be done to treat a dislocated finger, Napoli is probably still going to be dealing with some pain, and might not be 100% right off the bat.

The Red Sox haven't won back-to-back games since they faced the Orioles in the first season of the series. If they're going to change that tonight, they'll have to do it against one of the league's best arms in Chris Sale. They've got plenty of right-handed bats to put towards that end, but as we've seen in the (recent) past that's not been a guarantee for success even against mediocre lefties.

First pitch is at 8:10 p.m. with broadcasts on NESN and WEEI.