Alex Cora Explains Different Look To Lineup Vs. Yankees

When the Red Sox lineup came out on Friday before their matchup against the Yankees, it looked different.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora opted to keep Jarren Duran on the bench to give him some rest. On Thursday, Boston had an off day so Cora wanted to give Duran two days off due to how much he has played throughout the season.

“With Jarren, also, he has been playing a lot,” Cora told reporters, according to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “Giving him two days is good. You saw him limping the other day after a swing, the slide at third. It’s not that he’s grinding physically but it’s good for him to have two. We’ll go from there.”

Marcelo Mayer also was left out of the lineup with Rob Refsnyder batting leadoff, Romy Gonzalez hitting third and Roman Anthony batting fifth.

“We cannot play them all,” Cora said. “Play Roman (Friday), we felt the matchup is a good one. (Refsnyder) leading off, Romy hitting third. It felt like it’s the right one for this matchup. Then, we’ll decide (Saturday) what we’re going to do. We’ll take it day by day.”

Cora has said he wants to take a different approach with the rookies, not playing them every game. Mayer did pinch hit Friday and will likely play third base going into Saturday’s matchup.

With a number of strong players to choose from, the manager wants to make sure he’s using all the position players to the Red Sox’s benefit.

“Most likely, (Marcelo) will play third (on Saturday),” Cora said. “But this is where we’re at. We’ve got 13 good position players. We’ll use the roster to our advantage.”