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Red Sox vs. Orioles: Rusney Castillo back in center

It's Rusney Castillo day once more as the Red Sox return to the American League's more civilized form of baseball.

By Ben Buchanan

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Justin K. Aller

After a torturous day without, Red Sox fans will have Rusney Castillo back in the lineup Friday night for his second game with the big league team.

Today's Lineups

BOSTON RED SOX BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Mookie Betts - 2B Alejandro De Aza - LF
Xander Bogaerts - SS David Lough - CF
David Ortiz - DH Steve Pearce - RF
Yoenis Cespedes - LF Nelson Cruz - DH
Daniel Nava - RF Jimmy Paredes - 3B
Allen Craig - 1B Christian Walker - 1B
Rusney Castillo - CF Ryan Flaherty - SS
Garin Cecchini - 3B Caleb Joseph - C
Christian Vazquez - C Jonathan Schoop - 2B
Allen Webster - RHP Kevin Gausman - RHP

After a very rough series in the National League, the Red Sox are welcomed back to the civilized world of designated hitters by the AL East champion Orioles which, if you were wondering, feels very strange to say indeed. Making things worse, it's an Allen Webster start. Even as perhaps the last person on Earth still holding out hope that he can one day put it all together to be the type of starter his occasionally magnificent pitches suggest he can be, not even I hold out hope that today is the day.

But hey, Rusney is Rusney, and for that matter Mookie is Mookie and Xander is Xander. Despite everything, there are still reasons to watch this game even when it's meaningless for the Sox and, more or less, for the Orioles as well. Sure, home field advantage is technically not locked in yet for the Angels, but the American League seems pretty well sorted out to me.

Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $18,000 Fantasy Baseball league for tonight's MLB games. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. You can join in now using this link.

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