BOSTON — With Jarren Duran suspended for two games after using a homophobic slur directed at a fan, the Red Sox will place a different speedster at the top of their lineup Monday night against the Rangers.
David Hamilton is leading off and playing shortstop against Texas righty Tyler Mahle as Boston and Texas begin a three-game series at Fenway Park. It’s the first time all season he has hit first. Duran had started all 116 games for the Red Sox before Monday and had led off in 110 of them. The last time he wasn’t first in the lineup was July 21 when Romy Gonzalez led off.
With Duran suspended and Tyler O’Neill on the injured list with a leg infection, the Red Sox will turn to a different-looking outfield against Mahle. Rob Refsnyder is in left field with Ceddanne Rafaela in center and Wilyer Abreu in right. Mahle is making his second start of the season after recovering from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent last May.
Masataka Yoshida is hitting second for Boston and Rafael Devers, who missed Sunday’s game with general soreness, is back in the order at third base. Nick Sogard is starting at second for the Red Sox with Connor Wong catching.
Righty Brayan Bello is back with the team and will start after spending the last three days on the paternity list. In his last outing on Aug. 6 in Kansas City, the righty allowed three runs on five hits while striking out six batters in just 4 ⅔ innings.
The Red Sox have lost four in a row and will try to avoid their first five-game losing streak of the season Monday. They took two of three from the Rangers at Globe Life Field on their last road trip but are 8-13 since the All-Star break in total.
First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. ET with the game airing exclusively on ESPN.
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TEXAS RANGERS (55-63) @ BOSTON RED SOX (61-55)· FENWAY PARK · BOSTON, MA · GAME 117
FIRST PITCH: 7:10 p.m. ET
TV CHANNEL: ESPN (national broadcast)
LIVE STREAM: fuboTV – If you have cable and live in the New England TV market, you can use your login credentials to watch via NESNon mobile and WiFi-enabled devices. If you don’t have cable, you can watch the game via fuboTV, in New England | Watch ESPN
RADIO: WEEI 93.7 FM
PITCHING PROBABLES: LHP Tyler Mahle (0-1, 1.80 ERA) vs. RHP Brayan Bello (10-5, 5.16 ERA)
RED SOX LINEUP:
1. SS David Hamilton
2. DH Masataka Yoshida
3. LF Rob Refsnyder
4. 3B Rafael Devers
5. C Connor Wong
6. RF Wilyer Abreu
7. 1B Dom Smith
8. 2B Nick Sogard
9. CF Ceddanne Rafaela
RANGERS LINEUP:
1. 2B Marcus Semien
2. SS Corey Seager
3. 3B Josh Smith
4. RF Adolis García
5. 1B Nathaniel Lowe
6. DH Josh Jung
7. LF Wyatt Langford
8. C Jonah Heim
9. CF Leody Taveras
