Line-Ups 6/16

Jason Bartlett is back in the line-up tonight. It will also be interesting to see how Jeff Niemann fares batting.

Upton, cf
Crawford, lf
Longoria, 3b
Pena, 1b
Zobrist, 2b
Bartlett, ss
Kapler, rf
Navarro, c
Niemann, p

One Big Mashup

We’re a little behind schedule so here’s last night’s thoughts, today’s preview, daily links, and lineups all in one post. Don’t get used to it.

I couldn’t catch much of last night’s game, but it seemed pretty typical. Carlos Pena had a good day at the plate, along with B.J. Upton who had three hits. The story offensively was Jason Bartlett who is the best hitter in the bottom three of any order. Barty continues to mash and hit his fifth homerun of the season in his first at bat. Let the debate for J.B. leading off over Upton continue.

Jeff Niemann had a typical start, going five innings and working in and out of trouble all night. And Troy Percival also had a typical night for himself which is giving up a lot of runs quickly and efficiently: that’s four runs, on four hits and two jacks on 19 pitches. Luckily the Rays were up by a good amount and were able to escape Baltimore with a W (as sad as that sounds).

Lineups 5/10

Carlos Pena gets the night off (could be because he’s 3-22 against Josh Beckett) while Ben Zobrist and Willy Aybar get the start tonight.

Rays:
Upton CF
Crawford LF
Longoria 3B
Burrell DH
Aybar 1B
Zobrist RF
Iwamura 2B
Bartlett SS
Navarro C
Garza P

Red Sox:
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia SS
Ortiz DH
Bay LF
Lowell 3B
Drew RF
Bailey 1B
Varitek C
Green 2B
Beckett P

Lineups

Rays:
Upton CF
Crawford LF
Longoria 3B
Pena 1B
Burrell DH
Zobrist SS
Iwamura 2B
Kapler RF
Navarro C
Niemann P

Red Sox:
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Youkilis 1B
Drew RF
Bay LF
Lowell 3B
Kottaras C
Green SS
Wakefield P

Some notes, Jason Bartlett gets the day off and a chance to rest his hammy as Ben Zobrist will play short. The switch is good timing as Zorilla is a career 7-17 off starter Tim Wakefield. Gabe Kapler will start in right tonight as I imagine that Maddon is trying to get more right-handed bats against Wakefield. So don’t be surprised to see Navarro and Zobrist hit from the right side.

Game 3: Line-Ups

Big Willy makes his debut today at DH

Rays
A. Iwamura 2B
C. Crawford LF
E. Longoria 3B
C. Pena 1B
W. Aybar DH
M. Joyce CF
G. Gross RF
S. Riggans C
J. Bartlett SS

Matt Garza P

Red Sox
J. Ellsbury CF
D. Pedroia 2B
D. Ortiz DH
K. Youkilis 1B
J. Drew RF
J. Bay LF
M. Lowell 3B
J.Lowrie SS
J. Varitek C

Daisuke Matsuzaka P

Game 2: Line-Ups

Yes ladies Gabe is in the lineup today

Rays
J. Bartlett SS
C. Crawford LF
E. Longoria 3B
C. Pena 1B
P. Burrell DH
D. Navarro C
B. Zobrist RF
G. Kapler CF
A. Iwamura 2B

Scott Kazmir P

Red Sox
J. Ellsbury CF
D. Pedroia 2B
D. Ortiz DH
K. Youkilis 1B
R. Baldelli RF
J. Bay LF
M. Lowell 3B
J.Lowrie SS
J. Varitek C

John Lester P