BOSTON — Jahmai Jones and Eli White both had key plate appearances in Boston’s ninth-inning rally to beat the Giants on Saturday night. On Sunday, both outfielders will start for Boston with a lefty on the mound for San Francisco.
Jones will lead off as the designated hitter and White will play left field as the Red Sox go for a sweep of the lowly Giants, who will start left-hander Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson in his second major league outing. The Red Sox, anticipating a bullpen game from San Francisco, will start the day with Jarren Duran, Adley Rutschman and Mickey Gasper on the bench. Connor Wong will catch, continuing a pattern of being behind the plate every third day since Rutschman made his team debut on August 11. Nick Sogard, who had a key double in the ninth Saturday, is playing second and hitting sixth.
Rutschman has struggled in a Red Sox uniform despite a couple of better swings earlier this week. In 10 games since coming off the injured list, he is hitting just .171 (6-for-35) with a homer, a double, four RBIs and 11 strikeouts. Duran has an .816 OPS in August but has been getting virtually no opportunities against lefties with Jones and White both on the roster.
On the mound, the Red Sox will start rookie Jake Bennett, who will pitch after an extended breather designed around workload management. Bennett has not pitched since last Friday (Aug. 14) in Pittsburgh, when he was tagged for four runs in four innings in one of his worst starts of the season. Because Bennett has made a huge jump in innings compared to last year, the Red Sox wanted to give him some extra rest and effectively skipped him in the rotation this past week. He will pitch Sunday on eight days rest.
The Red Sox will aim to sweep their first series since August 4-6, when they took three in a row against the White Sox. First pitch is at 3:15 p.m. ET and the game is on NBC and Peacock.
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (52-77) vs. BOSTON RED SOX (70-59) · FENWAY PARK · BOSTON, MA · GAME 130
FIRST PITCH: 3:15 p.m. ET
TV CHANNEL: NBC / Peacock
RADIO: WEEI 93.7 FM
PITCHING PROBABLES: LHP Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Jake Bennett (7-6, 3.46 ERA)
RED SOX LINEUP:
- Jahmai Jones DH
- Ceddanne Rafaela CF
- Wilyer Abreu RF
- Willson Contreras 1B
- Caleb Durbin 3B
- Nick Sogard 2B
- Andruw Monasterio SS
- Eli White LF
- Connor Wong C
GIANTS LINEUP:
- Osleivis Basabe 2B
- Rafael Devers DH
- Willy Adames SS
- Bryce Eldridge 1B
- Victor Bericoto LF
- Jung Hoo Lee RF
- Andrew Knizner C
- Jonah Cox CF
- Christian Koss 3B
- Some Things I Think I Think: Booing (and some cheering) complicates matters at Fenway
- Red Sox claim a walk-off win that would have been unthinkable not long ago | Sean McAdam
- Wilyer Abreu ends ‘toughest night of year’ as Red Sox’ walk-off hero: ‘That ending was just crazy’
- Red Sox reactions: Wilyer Abreu walk-off caps dramatic comeback win over Giants
- Red Sox lineup: Here’s batting order (and TV info) vs. San Francisco Giants for Saturday night
Read the original article on MassLive. Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Leave a Comment