BOSTON - The Red Sox will look to win their third straight over the American League-best Kansas City Royals and fifth in a row overall on Saturday night at Fenway Park. Matt Barnes returns to the hill for the Sox while the Royals are set to counter with young right-hander Yordano Ventura.
Brock Holt was a late scratch in the lineup due to left oblique tightness, replaced by Josh Rutledge at second base. Holt was originally slotted in the seventh spot, but upon being replaced, Blake Swihart and Jackie Bradley Jr. slide up a spot and Rutledge bats ninth.
It's the third straight game that Holt will miss. Torey Lovullo said he was dealing with general soreness on Friday.
Pablo Sandoval continues to bat in the two-hole, and Hanley Ramirez slides all the way down to the sixth spot in the order. Travis Shaw is swinging a hot bat right now, which is why he's batting fifth, but Ramirez has been relatively nonexistent up at the plate these days.
"I think his timing is a little off right now; his timing his rhythm is a little off," Lovullo said. "And he's tinkering with his swing. He's trying to find out where his lower half is. I've been saying the past couple days that things ebb and flow when you're at this level and he's probably not getting to the pitches that he can get to, maybe missing a couple pitches and the frustration is building. But it's about the grind, it's about working through the grind and that's where he's at right now."
Rusney Castillo gets the night off as the Sox continue to rotate right-field starts between Castillo and Bradley.
Boston Red Sox
Here are the full lineups:
RED SOX:
Mookie Betts, CF
Pablo Sandoval 3B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
David Ortiz, DH
Travis Shaw, 1B
Hanley Ramirez, LF
Blake Swihart, C
Jackie Bradley Jr., RF
Josh Rutledge, 2B
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Matt Barnes, P
ROYALS
Alcides Escobar, SS
Ben Zobrist, LF
Lorenzo Cain, CF
Eric Hosmer, 1B
Kendrys Morales, DH
Mike Moustakas, 3B
Salvador Perez, C
Alex Rios, RF
Omar Infante, 2B
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Yordano Ventura, P