Red Sox at Royals lineup: Six-crazed to end the first half

It’s Martín #PérezDay at the Fens tonight as the Sox search for their sixth straight win against southpaw Mike Minor, the Royals, and the heat (7:10 p.m., NESN).

Pérez was victorious the last time out, but then again that game was against the Yankees, who are trash. The Royals (obviously) present a much more difficult task, and Pérez’s 4.09 ERA shows he... might be able to get past them? Who knows. Better chance than Garrett Richards would have, anyway, although Richards doesn’t even have a day named after him and Pérez does, so maybe that’s the difference. That or the cheating. Who knows? (Except Richards, who admitted to the cheating. Which I don’t judge except to say I condone it heartily, so maybe I do judge it, positively).

Eventually the Sox will lose again, but since last Thursday’s temporarily devastating loss to the Rays all they’ve done is not lose and take a two-game lead in the division. This is good. This is the 81st game of the year, meaning it’s the end of the actual first half, and the Sox are better than anyone expected, except for the people who did expect this, who I think all work for the team. They were right and we were wrong. I was wrong. Me. And I’ve never been happier about it!

Here are the full lineups: