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April 12, 2007
Seattle
Ichiro Suzuki, 8
Adrian Beltre, 5
Jose Vidro, DH
Raul Ibanez, 7
Richie Sexson, 3
Jose Guillen, 9
Kenji Johmima, 2
Yuniesky Betancourt, 6
Jose Lopez, 4
Jarrod Washburn, SP
Boston
Julio Lugo, 6
Coco Crisp, 8
David Ortiz, DH
Manny Ramirez, 7
Kevin Youkilis, 3
Mike Lowell, 5
Wily Mo Pena, 9
Doug Mirabelli, 2
Dustin Pedroia, 4
Tim Wakefield, SP
You may notice a few changes in the Red Sox lineup. J.D. Drew has been given the day off and Pena will play left field. Boston manager Terry Francona said he wanted to get Pena into the lineup, and give Drew day off, which will be a common occurance throughout the season.
The manager explained Drew will be given a day off --if the schedule and matchups permit -- every 10 days in order to keep the outfielder fresh and healthy.
You may also notice Coco Crisp, who has been hitting in the bottom end of the lineup, is hitting second. As a result, Youkilis has been inserted into the fifth spot.
Francona said he thought of keeping the lineup the same it's been since the start of the season, but he tweaked it a little bit.
"I had it that way first," he said. "But the more I looked at it, Coco has such good success against (Washburn) and it just gives us a little better balance. If you're taking somebody out, the idea is to create the same production, while giving somebody a rest."
Youkilis is accustomed to hitting at the top of the lineup, but he’s versatile enough to hit anywhere.
"I thought today's lineup looked better doing it this way," said Francona.
Posted by Joe McDonald 
at 1:35 PM | Permalink
