Projo Sox Blog

BY JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- With Boston facing a left-hander Friday night there was some thought Rocco Baldelli would be in the lineup for the Red Sox, given his ability to hit lefties well.

Well, when that left-hander is Johan Santana, the matchups don't really matter much.

"There's no getting around it," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "He's tough on both sides, but he's probably tougher on right-handers. It might have been one of those things where if someone needed rest, like J.D. [Drew], or even Jacoby [Ellsbury], but Jacoby's got a pretty good thing going and J.D. sat the other day."

The Red Sox will face another strong lefty at Minnesota on Monday in Francisco Liriano, so it just made sense for Francona to set the lineup this way on Friday.

 Tags  Red Sox Rocco Baldelli Terry Francona

---