Red Sox vs. Blue Jays: Sox turn to Hill and Young against Happ

The Red Sox are going lefty hunting Saturday afternoon with Aaron Hill and Chris Young back in the lineup against the Blue Jays’ J.A. Happ.

Chris Young being in the lineup on any given day is no surprise given that he’s come through reasonably well against righties this year, but there’s no question where he really builds up his numbers, to the point where it seems questionable to have him so low in the order.

Really, though, the only player who would seem to be an obvious switch is Aaron Hill, who the Red Sox still hope will be the weapon against lefties they brought him in to be. Obviously he’s been a huge disappointment since arriving in Boston, but he’s started to see some better results in recent pinch-hitting opportunities. Happ is a tough pitcher and doesn’t exactly come with huge splits himself, but if Hill is going to show the Red Sox he’s an asset to them, he has to take all the opportunities he can get against lefties, and make them count.

The Red Sox will turn to their own increasingly tough lefty on the mound in Eduardo Rodriguez. If his first start back from injury against the Royals was cause for concern, his second against the Athletics should largely have quelled all fears, as Rodriguez flirted with a no-hitter all the way into the seventh, finishing eight innings of shutout baseball, even if the Red Sox weren’t able to give him even one run of support. Do better this time, perhaps?

First pitch is at 1:05 p.m. ET with broadcasts on FOX and WEEI.