Boston After a difficult week-long road trip, the Red Sox will return home on Friday. Masataka Yoshida will not be starting, and Ceddanne Rafaela will play in his natural position.
In Friday’s series opener, Rafaela will be in center field against the Marlins and righty Sandy Alcantara, while Roman Anthony will be the designated hitter and Jarren Duran will be in left field. Romy Gonzalez, who is playing second base, was effectively selected by manager Alex Cora over Yoshida, who is sitting. Gonzalez will start against Alcantara, a former National League Cy Young winner (2022) who has had a difficult season. Gonzalez has been starting more against right-handed pitchers.
Since Marcelo Mayer hurt his wrist, Rafaela, an excellent defensive center fielder, has started at second base 14 times. Rafaela has hit.280 with an OPS of.808 while playing center field, but as a second baseman, he has only hit.136 with an OPS of.313. The numbers are still remarkable, even though Cora doesn’t believe there is a correlation.
The Red Sox enter the homestand two games ahead of the Guardians in the wild card race and five games behind the Blue Jays in the American League East race, having only won two of their last six away games. Boston is currently seeded between the Yankees and Mariners and holds the second wild card berth.
Lucas Giolito, a right-hander, will attempt to recover on Friday after a difficult start in the Padres game last weekend, walking six hitters and giving up four runs on five hits in four innings. Since the All-Star break, Giolito has made five starts and has a 4.82 ERA.
The Marlins are 6-8 so far in August, after being above.500 in both June and July. On its first visit to Fenway since June 2023, Miami is six games from a wild card berth. That three-game set was swept by the Marlins.
At Fenway, the Sox are 39–22. 7:10 p.m. ET is the first pitch time.
Boston Red Sox (66-56) at. Miami Marlins (58-63) Game 123 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts
PITCH ONE: 7:10 p.m. ET
NESN TV CHANNEL
WEEI 93.7 FM is the radio.
PITCHING PROBABILITY: RHP Lucas Giolito (8-2, 3.77 ERA) vs. RHP Sandy Alcantara (6-11, 6.55 ERA)
RED SOX LINEUP:
1) Roman Anthony, DH
2) 3B Bregman, Alex
3) Jarren Duran, LF
4) The Story of SS Trevor
5) Wilyer Abreu, RF
6) Romy Gonzalez, 2B
7) 1B Toro, Abraham
8) Rafaela Ceddanne CF
9) Carlos Narv oz, C.
MARLINS LINEUP:
Unknown
