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The Red Sox will have Pablo Sandoval back in the lineup as they try to pick up their first sweep of 2015 against Kendall Graveman and the Oakland Athletics.
| OAKLAND A'S | BOSTON RED SOX |
|---|---|
| Billy Burns - CF | Dustin Pedroia - 2B |
| Marcus Semien - SS | Brock Holt - RF |
| Stephen Vogt - 1B | Hanley Ramirez - LF |
| Billy Butler - DH | David Ortiz - DH |
| Josh Reddick - RF | Mike Napoli - 1B |
| Brett Lawrie - 3B | Pablo Sandoval - 3B |
| Mark Canha - LF | Xander Bogaerts - SS |
| Josh Phegley - C | Sandy Leon - C |
| Eric Sogard - 2B | Rusney Castillo - CF |
| Kendall Graveman - RHP | Clay Buchholz - RHP |
Shockingly, Sandoval is not simply replacing Mookie Betts in center field for the day (that would be a sight to see). Instead, Rusney Castillo will move over from right, with Brock Holt taking his place in the outfield to complete the shift.
It's a big game for Sandoval, who has gone from one of the team's best players to one of its worst in the span of one terrible month. Hopefully the time off will do him more good than it did David Ortiz, who's hitting to just a .669 OPS since his return from his break.
With or without a productive Sandoval, though, the Red Sox at least have a decent chance of finishing the job here. Clay Buchholz is looking like his old self--his good old self that is--of late. He just needs the offense to give him some small amount of support. They've scored just one run behind him in each of his last four starts. It's a miracle he's even managed to salvage one win from those performances.
First pitch is at 1:35 p.m. ET with broadcasts on NESN and WEEI.
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