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Mookie Betts will take over the leadoff spot for the Red Sox Monday afternoon as they play a Labor Day matinee against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Batting Betts first makes plenty of sense given the way he's been hitting the ball of late. He's reached base in all but one game since his return to the majors on August 18th, and maintained a .383 OBP for the month of August. It's a small sample size of success, but with the considerable expectations surrounding Betts, it's also not hard to believe he's for real.
Otherwise, it's a day of notable absences in David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia. Ortiz has played the last few games after sitting out for a bit with a myriad of minor injuries, while Pedroia is still dealing with the after effects of taking a Logan Forsythe elbow to the head.
First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. ET with broadcasts on NESN and WEEI.