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Pablo Sandoval will get his first start in nearly a week Monday afternoon as the Red Sox face the Twins looking for their third straight win.
Today's Lineups
| BOSTON RED SOX | MINNESOTA TWINS |
|---|---|
| Dustin Pedroia - 2B | Brian Dozier - 2B |
| Mookie Betts - CF | Torii Hunter - RF |
| David Ortiz - DH | Joe Mauer - 1B |
| Hanley Ramirez - LF | Trevor Plouffe - 3B |
| Pablo Sandoval - 3B | Kurt Suzuki - C |
| Mike Napoli - 1B | Jordan Schafer - SS |
| Xander Bogaerts - SS | Eduardo Nunez - DH |
| Daniel Nava - RF | Eddie Rosario - LF |
| Blake Swihart - C | Aaron Hicks - CF |
| Joe Kelly - RHP | Ricky Nolasco - RHP |
While the Red Sox have been scoring some runs these last few games even without Sandoval's bat (save a couple of pinch-hitting appearances), but they'll be happy to have him and his 1.003 OPS against RHP tonight, and who knows, maybe his numbers against lefties improve now that he's decided to go ahead and bat lefty all the time.
Unless he immediately goes back like Daniel Nava, who's the pretty obvious weak link in this bunch. Which is a shame given what he's done in years past. The Red Sox seem determined to get him going again, which is all well and good, but does end up feeling a bit wasteful when Rusney Castillo and a suddenly hot Brock Holt are on the bench.
First pitch is at 2:10 p.m. ET with broadcasts on NESN and WEEI.