Red Sox at A’s lineups: Let’s see some fireworks!

Hot dog! It’s July 4th and the Sox are in first place by a whopping 4.5 games after last night’s brutal end to the winning streak. Our solution: Start another one! That’s exactly what the boys will try to do this afternoon in Oakland, behind Nick Pivetta (4:07 p.m., NESN, MLBN out-of-network).

It’s nice to have Independence Day baseball back in our lives, because it’s the day best made for enjoying a cold beverage and sitting someplace way too hot and enjoying the game in your delivery vehicle of choice. TV? Works just fine. In-person? You know that rules! The radio, maybe in your actual vehicle? Nothing better, imho! Baseball and the 4th of July were made for each other, even if July 2nd is the day the U.S. actually declared independence. Nobody cares! The it’s not called the “2nd of July,” is it? Didn’t think so. So today we celebrate.

Hopefully Pivetta gives us something to enjoy against James Kaprelian, whose name sounds like a baddie from an 80s movie. Kaprelian has the extreme fortune of drawing Xander Bogaerts’s off-day, as X is out of the lineup, as is Hunter Renfroe. Hopefully they can get the grill going in the clubhouse. They can invite Mitch Moreland over—Jed Lowrie gets the start at DH, one old friend replacing another.