After five games of Jarrod Saltalamacchia manning the No. 4 hole in the order, Cody Ross will get the call to clean things up for the Sox in Oakland on Tuesday. In nine games batting in the four hole this season, Ross is hitting .313 with three home runs and seven RBIs.
Ross and Co. will be up against a bit of challenge in Oakland starter Bartolo Colon (6-7, 4.22 ERA), though. Colon has had an up and down season with the A's this year but had a stellar 2011 campaign in New York, posting an 8-10 record with a 4.00 ERA in 26 starts.
Meanwhile, the wildly inconsistent Jon Lester (5-5, 4.53) will take the hill for the Sox, looking to lock down his sixth win of the year. Lester will have to fend off a couple former teammates, with a lineup led off by former Sox center fielder Coco Crisp. He'll also have to deal with the scrappy Josh Reddick, who's in the middle of a monster season at the dish with a career-high 19 home runs already.
Check out the full lineups for both sides, below.
Red Sox (42-38)
Daniel Nava, LF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Cody Ross, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Ryan Kalish, CF
Mike Aviles, SS
Nick Punto, 3B
Jon Lester, LHP
Athletics (39-42)
Coco Crisp, CF
Jemile Weeks, 2B
Josh Reddick, RF
Yoenis Cespedes, LF
Jonny Gomes, DH
Chris Carter, 1B
Brandon Inge, 3B
Brandon Hicks, SS
Kurt Suzuki, C
Bartolo Colon, RHP
