Red Sox vs. Twins lineups: Our city, now and forever

It’s that time of morning again with the annual Patriots Day AM Red Sox game. Rich Hill, still grieving the loss of his father just a few days ago, will make the start at the always-emotional Patriots’ Day game this morning against Dylan Bundy and the Twins (11:10 a.m., NESN, MLBN out-of-market).

There’s almost too much going on with this particular Patriots’ Day game to keep track of. First off, Hill—the local guy making the start at the singularly local game—is mourning his dad, who was a Boston Marathon runner. Second, after 2013, the Patriots’ Day game took on an entirely new level of significance, not leastwise because of David Ortiz’s speech a few days later, which I will always post on this day:

Third, this is the first time since 2019 that the Boston Marathon is taking place on Patriots’ Day. Fourth, given the significance of this day and the worrying contract situation surrounding a certain Aruban shortstop, the crowd, as I urged them Friday, would be wise to let said shortstop feel the love.

As for the game, fans hoping to get their first view of Trevor Story will be disappointed to see he’s not in the lineup, but, befitting Patriots’ Day the Mayor (of Ding-Dong City) himself, Travis Shaw, gets the start, which just seems right. Enjoy it, folks.