KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Rookie second baseman Kristian Campbell isn’t in the lineup for the Red Sox on Sunday as Boston tries to win a series against a red-hot Royals team.
Campbell, who has hit just .189 (10-for-53) with one homer, five RBIs, 18 strikeouts and a .561 OPS in his last 13 games, will be unplugged from the order against Kansas City righty Seth Lugo. The Red Sox will instead start David Hamilton at second base and he’s hitting seventh.
Campbell has been in the cleanup spot since Sunday and Cora thinks the adjustment period from the bottom of the lineup has made an impact. Wilyer Abreu is back hitting fourth Sunday.
“Quality at-bats, not getting hits,” the manager explained about Campbell. “Obviously, we asked him to do something different than early in the season and we can say it’s not a different at-bat, but it is a different at-bat. That’s the reason Willy (Abreu) is hitting lower. Today, he’s hitting fourth. In that pocket, you’re going to face the best of the best. There’s an adjustment period, but he’ll be fine.”
Campbell has started 35 of Boston’s first 41 games. He has only played second base since April 24 and has not mixed into the outfield (where he has 5 starts this season. Cora said Campbell still playing the outfield hasn’t been ruled out, adding getting Ceddanne Rafaela in a groove at the plate is important.
“Ceddanne is swinging the bat well, so we’ll keep playing him,” Cora said.
Nick Sogard is at first base for the second straight game and Carlos Narváez is behind the plate after a three-hit night Saturday in a blowout win. The Red Sox are expected to split time evenly between Narváez and Connor Wong at catcher for the time being.
Boston will look for its second straight series win and to do so, will need a bounce-back start from Lucas Giolito, who was tagged for six runs and 10 hits in 3 ⅔ innings against Texas in his last outing. It’s the third start back for Giolito, who began the year on the injured list with a hamstring issue after missing all of 2024.
The Red Sox have won three of four after a three-game winning streak but are 4-6 in their last 10 games and 10-11 on the road. The Royals, conversely, have a 16-3 record since Easter and had won seven before dropping Saturday’s game.
First pitch is at 2:10 p.m. ET (1:10 local).
BOSTON RED SOX (21-20) @ KANSAS CITY ROYALS (24-17) · KAUFFMAN STADIUM · KANSAS CITY, MO · GAME 42
FIRST PITCH: 2:10 p.m. ET
TV CHANNEL: NESN
RADIO: WEEI 93.7 FM
PITCHING PROBABLES: RHP Lucas Giolito (0-1, 8.38 ERA) vs. RHP Seth Lugo (3-3, 2.84 ERA)
RED SOX LINEUP:
1) LF Jarren Duran
2) DH Rafael Devers
3) 3B Alex Bregman
4) RF Wilyer Abreu
5) SS Trevor Story
6) 1B Nick Sogard
7) 2B David Hamilton
8) C Carlos Narváez
9) CF Ceddanne Rafaela
ROYALS LINEUP:
1) LF Jonathan India
2) SS Bobby Witt Jr.
3) DH Vinnie Pasquantino
4) 1B Salvador Perez
5) 3B Maikel Garcia
6) 2B Michael Massey
7) RF Drew Waters
8) C Luke Maile
9) CF Kyle Isbel
