Boston Red Sox' Masataka Yoshida Still Out of Lineup vs. Los Angeles Angels

The Boston Red Sox welcome the Los Angeles Angels to Fenway Park for the first game of a four-game series on Friday night. The Sox, fresh off being swept by the Tampa Bay Rays, will have to take the field without big offseason acquisition Masataka Yoshida, who remains out with a hamstring issue. Rob Refsnyder takes his place in left field.
Boston Red Sox' Masataka Yoshida Still Out of Lineup vs. Los Angeles Angels
Boston Red Sox' Masataka Yoshida Still Out of Lineup vs. Los Angeles Angels /

The Boston Red Sox, fresh off being swept in Tampa Bay by the Rays, return home on Friday night to start a series with the Los Angeles Angels.

The 5-8 Red Sox were pushed around by the Rays all week, losing 1-0 on Monday, 7-2 on Tuesday, 9-7 on Wednesday and 9-3 on Thursday.

As the Sox return home and look to get right, they'll have to do so without big offseason acquisition Masataka Yoshida. He remains out of the lineup for the third straight game with a hamstring issue.

As a result, here's the lineup for Alex Cora and the 5-8 Sox:

1) Alex Verdugo, RF

2) Justin Turner, DH

3) Rob Refsynder, LF

4) Rafael Devers, 3B

5) Enrique Hernandez, CF

6) Christian Arroyo, 2B

7) Tristan Casas, 1B

8) Conner Wong, C

9) Yu Chang, SS

SP: Tanner Houck

The Sox will be opposed by Angels left-hander Patrick Sandoval tonight, who is 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA. As a result of facing the lefty, Refsynder hits third. He homered off Tampa Bay Rays lefty Jeffrey Springs on Thursday.

For Houck, he's fighting to keep his spot in the starting rotation. He's 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA but the thought is that he'll head to the bullpen when Brayan Bello returns, maybe even this weekend. When James Paxton returns, there's even more confusion, as the team could go with a six-man rotation, or could move Paxton to the bullpen.

The Angels enter play today at 7-5 and tied for first place in the American League West.


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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.