The Kansas City Royals will substitute Tony Abreu for Johnny Giavotella at second base in hopes of igniting their lineup as they get set to take on the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night at Fenway Park.
Abreu has hit .286 in 14 plate appearances for the Royals, while Giavotella continues to struggle at the big league level. Meanwhile, Eric Hosmer, who homered on Friday night, is back in the lineup and hitting eighth.
Jeremy Guthrie (5-12, 5.41 ERA) takes the hill for the Royals, and he'll face a Red Sox lineup that has gone through a boatload of changes over the past few days, following the blockbuster deal that sent Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. None of the players the Sox received in return are in the lineup behind Aaron Cook (3-7, 4.79).
Here are the full lineups:
Royals:
1. Jarrod Dyson CF
2. Alcides Escobar SS
3. Alex Gordon LF
4. Billy Butler DH
5. Salvador Perez C
6. Mike Moustakas 3B
7. Jeff Francoeur RF
8. Eric Hosmer 1B
9. Tony Abreu 2B
Red Sox:
1. Scott Podsednik LF
2. Dustin Pedroia 2B
3. Jacoby Ellsbury CF
4. Cody Ross RF
5. Mauro Gomez 1B
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
7. Ryan Lavarnway DH
8. Mike Aviles SS
9. Pedro Ciriaco 3B
First pitch is scheduled from Boston at 6:10 p.m. CT.
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