Red Sox lineup vs. Tarik Skubal doesn’t have Friday hero — or Jarren Duran

The Red Sox have only faced two lefties all season (Drohan and Cincinnati’s Andrew Abbott, on Opening Day). They will face two more tough ones in the coming days with Detroit’s Framber Valdez and New York’s Max Fried on the schedule. Expect Cora to keep sitting Mayer, who has just four plate appearances against lefties all year, and finding at-bats for Monasterio and Kiner-Falefa. Yoshida, who hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning Friday, is a career .237 hitter with a .653 OPS against southpaws.

The Red Sox got to Skubal last season in Detroit, scoring five runs on seven hits in 6 ⅓ innings on May 14. He dominated right-handed batters (.572 OPS) in his Cy Young campaign but was particularly tough against lefties, holding them to a .215 average and .507 OPS. That’s why the Red Sox are playing just two left-handed batters (Anthony and Wilyer Abreu) against him.

On the mound for Boston is righty Brayan Bello, who pitched well Sunday in St. Louis (2 earned runs in 6 ⅔ innings) after a bumpy start to the season. First pitch from Fenway is at 4:05 p.m. ET as the Red Sox look for their first three-game winning streak of 2026.

DETROIT TIGERS (10-10) vs. BOSTON RED SOX (8-11) · FENWAY PARK · BOSTON, MA · GAME 20

FIRST PITCH: 4:10 p.m. ET

TV CHANNEL: NESN

RADIO: WEEI 93.7 FM

PITCHING PROBABLES: LHP Tarik Skubal (2-2, 2.22 ERA) vs. RHP Brayan Bello (1-1, 6.14 ERA)

RED SOX LINEUP:

1. Roman Anthony LF
2. Andruw Monasterio SS
3. Willson Contreras 1B
4. Trevor Story SS
5. Wilyer Abreu RF
6. Ceddanne Rafaela CF
7. Caleb Durbin 3B
8. Connor Wong C
9. Isiah Kiner-Falefa

TIGERS LINEUP:

1. Kevin McGonigle 3B
2. Gleyber Torres 2B
3. Colt Keith DH
4. Riley Greene LF
5. Spencer Torkelson 1B
6. Kerry Carpenter RF
7. Wenceel Pérez CF
8. Javier Báez SS
9. Jake Rogers C

More Red Sox coverage

• Who’s the Red Sox No. 1 catcher? Alex Cora dodges the question
• Finally, run prevention works in Red Sox’ favor | Sean McAdam
• ‘Lucky’ Red Sox hero Masataka Yoshida: ‘You never know when my number gets called’
• Red Sox reactions: In extras, Masataka Yoshida wins it in a pinch
• Red Sox injuries: Kutter Crawford (elbow) likely to have MRI; key reliever slow in return bid

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