Red Sox at Twins lineup: E-Rod gives it another go

The Red Sox and Twins will continue their battle for the soul of Ft. Myers, Florida this afternoon at 1:05 p.m. This one is being broadcast by the Twins station, so you can watch with an MLB.TV subscription.

Eduardo Rodriguez will take his turn in the spring rotation after a “successful return,” per MLB.com’s Ian Browne, in his return from myocarditis. Telling Christian Vázquez that he felt like he was making his major league debut—he was that excited—E-Rod threw 46 pitches over 2.2 innings with a strikeout, no walks and a run. He’ll get back out there today to build on the performance and toward the regular season, where he’ll be an important part of a team fighting to keep its head above water in the treacherous AL East.

Matt Shoemaker starts for the Twins; like his former Angels teammate Garrett Richards, he’s a hard-throwing righty who has battled injury problems. That’s about all to report for this one (except for a Kiké Hernández spotting in center, as both Jarren Duran and Alex Verdugo take a seat), as we continue the inexorable march to a regular season that figures to actually start on time, one year after everything went to hell on this very day. As Manny would say, it’s time to turn the page.

Red Sox lineup

1. Kiké Hernández, CF

2. Marwin Gonzalez, 2B

3. J.D. Martinez, DH

4. Rafael Devers, 3B

5. Christian Arroyo, SS

6. Michael Chavis, 1B

7. Kevin Plawecki, C

8. Michael Gettys, RF

9. Marcus Wilson, LF

SP: Eduardo Rodriguez, LHP

Twins lineup

1. Max Kepler, CF

2. Josh Donaldson, 3B

3. Nelson Cruz, DH

4. Jorge Polanco, 2B

5. Mitch Garver, C

6. Alex Kirilloff, 1B

7. Brent Rooker, LF

8. Keon Broxton, RF

9. JT Riddle, SS

SP: Matt Shoemaker, RHP