Red Sox vs. A’s lineups: Aaaaaaand we’re back

The Red Sox return from an exhausting West Coast swing to take on the Oakland A’s behind Nick Pivetta (7:10 p.m., NESN).

It was a fruitful trip for the Sox, who climbed to 3 games over .500 and 3.5 back of the Rays for third place in the AL East. While Over the Monster wasn’t able to cover all of it, we’re also back and in full force—for game coverage at least. Minor Lines, etc., might still be a while. Your patience is appreciated. If Chiam Bloom gets some time for his stuff to work, why shouldn’t we?

The A’s come into town a mere game out of last place in the entire AL, which has gotta hurt. Jared Koenig makes the second start of his career after eh meh first outing and could represent red meat to a Sox offense that is generally Quite Good these days.

With Enrique Hernández still on the IL, Rob “Gold Glove” Refsnyder starts in center and bats leadoff, but everything else is standard-issue Sox.