Xander Bogaerts Should Start Game 5 For Red Sox
BOSTON (CBS) — Needing a spark to his offense, Tigers manager
Jim Leyland shook up his lineup prior to Wednesday's Game 4. On Thursday, Red Sox manager John Farrell will need to do the same.
Xander Bogaerts may not have been deemed ready for the bright lights of the postseason two weeks ago when the Red Sox kicked things off against Tampa Bay, but now eight games into the playoffs, the kid has aced just about every test presented to him. Now, the Red Sox will need him to start Game 5 of the ALCS.
Bogaerts entered Wednesday's Game 4 as a defensive replacement for pinch hitter Mike Carp, and he didn't get his first plate appearance until the ninth inning. Facing Joaquin Benoit, whom Bogaerts was hoping to see again after just missing a pitch in the ninth inning of Game 1, Bogaerts sent a deep fly ball to the opposite field, and it bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double.
