Red Sox Have Benintendi-Martinez-Devers At Top Of Lineup In Exhibition Loss To Blue Jays

The Red Sox lost to the Blue Jays 8-6 on Tuesday in an exhibition game at Fenway Park.

Mitch Moreland hit a three-run homer in the first inning and J.D. Martinez smacked a two-run dong in the fifth. But Ryan Brasier gave the lead away by allowing three runs in the ninth.

Manager Ron Roenicke had Martinez batting in the #2 spot behind Andrew Benintendi.

We may do it in the future. I wanted to see what [Martinez] thought about it. I guess they tried it a little bit when he was in Detroit and he didn't like it a whole lot. He said, "Fine let's do it, let's see what it looks like."

Roenicke likes putting Martinez between Benintendi and Rafael Devers, two left-handed hitters.

If you want to bring in a lefty to face Benny you have to get through J.D. before you get to Devers. It makes sense, it's just if everybody is comfortable with it, because I know comfort has a lot to do with how these guys hit and [it] changes their confidence. It's a good look. If you put that lineup up like that and an opposing team looks at it, it's hard to pitch to.

In his first two seasons with the Red Sox, JDM has not hit anywhere but third or fourth. This was Tuesday's lineup:

Benintendi, LF
Martinez, DH
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Moreland, 1B
Vázquez, C
Verdugo, RF
Bradley, CF
Peraza, 2B

Ryan Weber started and allowed two runs over the first five frames before giving up two more in the sixth. Brandon Workman pitched a clean eighth before Brasier blew the save.

Boston will play the Blue Jays again on Wednesday before the short season begins on Friday evening. Nathan Eovaldi will be the starting pitcher against the Orioles.

Eduardo Rodriguez continues his recovery from SARS-CoV-2:

I was one of those people to get hit really hard. ... I was feeling all the symptoms ... I was feeling headaches, fever, all that. ... I've never been that sick in my life, and I don't want to get that sick again. I would say the first four days were the worst days. I felt all the symptoms, woke up in the morning, got out of bed and felt like I was 100 years old. My body was tired all the time, throwing up, headaches, all the symptoms. ... After that, it started going away and I started feeling better.

Pitcher Collin McHugh has decided not to play in 2020, but his decision has more to do with his wonky right arm than the pandemic. McHugh suffered a strained right flexor tendon at the end of last season and "his arm is not coming around like he had hoped," according to Roenicke.