Red Sox at Rays lineups: Dancing in September?

The Red Sox go for a series split in St. Pete behind Eduardo Rodriguez against the first-place Rays (7:10 p.m., NESN, MLBN out-of-market).

For one day, everything was sort of okay. With Chris Sale on the mound and a skeletal lineup out there, replete with Jack Lopez making his big-league debut, the Sox got on the board in the series and to start September, which almost definitionally cannot be worse than August. Tonight E-Rod looks to make it two in a row for the depleted Sox against rookie phenom Shane McClahanan, who enters the game with an ERA of 3.59, a full run and a half lower than Eddie’s.

Things change, however, and as the calendar has switched over toward the fall, maybe the Sox’s fortunes will, too. In a rare treat for this fraught time of year, the Sox released their lineup somewhat early. It’s mostly a retread of yesterday, with Danny Santana (!) back in place of Jarren Duran. And apparently it’s Jack López, not Jack Lopez, which Matt corrected me on. Boo this man! Matt, that is. Anyhow here are the things: