BOSTON — The Red Sox return home Friday night to begin a seven-game homestand, opening with the Tigers, and once again roll out a different lineup, including a new No. 2 hitter.
Roman Anthony remains in the leadoff spot, while Willson Contreras moves up from cleanup to hit second. Wilyer Abreu slots into the three-hole, with Trevor Story batting cleanup.
“Just put them all together and keep rolling,” said Alex Cora. “It just feels right. Roman, Willson, Wilyer and then Trevor, who’s been amazing with men in scoring position, he’s hitting like .320. So, why not?
“Then obviously from there, there’s a lot of athleticism, something we haven’t been able to use because of the scores or not getting on base. Hopefully, we can put pressure on them after Trevor.”
Story has been red-hot after a slow start to the 2026 season. The veteran shortstop is 8-for-16 with three extra-base hits over his last four games and ranks third in the American League with 17 RBI.
“It started with a walk (in St. Louis) and then with a bloop single to right field,” said Cora of Story’s turnaround. “That’s the reality of it. You talk about using the whole field and he did. He had the four-hit game in St. Louis, the double to right-center in the last one in Minnesota. That’s what he did last year. He did it with men on a lot. If he keeps doing that, he’s going to be OK.”
Connor Wong will get the start behind the plate Friday night, with Carlos Narváez heading to the bench. Narváez is hitless in his last eight at-bats and is batting just .195 on the season with 14 strikeouts in 41 at-bats.
“He’s struggling,” acknowledged Cora of Narvaez. “He struggled in Minnesota making contact and Connor is playing well so he plays tonight. (Narvaez is having) a lot of swing-and-miss. I think at the end of last season, we saw that. I thinl right now there’s lot of thinking going on. He’s a great defender behind the plate, one of the best in the big leagues. Offensively, (we) just (need him to) contribute. That’s what he needs to do and that’s what he did last year and we expect the same thing the rest of the season.”
Masataka Yoshida remains on the bench
