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The Red Sox kick off a series with the first-place Rays this afternoon at 6:40 p.m. in St. Petersburg, Florida, home of the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rays are very good at baseball. If there’s something positive we can take from this, it’s that the team’s assembly was aided by the presence of Chaim Bloom, currently under the employ of the Red Sox. Maybe in a couple years the Sox will get back there, but likely not a couple hours. So you gotta like the Rays tonight. Like them to win, that is. From what I can gather here most of the people here can’t stand them. Whatever floats your boat.
To drive the whole Circle of Life bit home, former Sox farmhand Manny Margot, laundered through San Diego, is leading off for the Rays. They’ve got Josh Fleming on the mound and we’ve got Mike Kickham so, you know, party.
With José Peraza gone and Michael Chavis struggling and running out of chances, Yairo Muñoz and Bobby Dalbec are hanging around, while Christian Arroyo mans second base. That’s it! Here are the lineups:
Game 45 at Rays
| Lineup spot | Red Sox | Rays |
|---|---|---|
| Lineup spot | Red Sox | Rays |
| 1 | Alex Verdugo, RF | Manny Margot, CF |
| 2 | Rafael Devers, 3B | Randy Azorena, DH |
| 3 | Xander Bogaerts, SS | Austin Meadows, LF |
| 4 | JD Martinez, DH | Mike Brousseau, 1B |
| 5 | Christian Vázquez, C | Hunter Renfroe, RF |
| 6 | Yairo Muñoz, LF | Brandon Lowe, 2B |
| 7 | Jackie Bradley Jr., CF | Willy Adames, SS |
| 8 | Bobby Dalbec, 1B | Kevan Smith, C |
| 9 | Christian Arroyo, 2B | Joey Wendle, 3B |
| SP | Mike Kickham, LHP | Josh Fleming, LF |