Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 4/22

C.J. Wilson (L), Clay Buchholz (R) - AP Photos

The Boston Red Sox will look to give skipper Terry Francona a nice 51st birthday present with a win tonight that would give them a 3-game sweep of the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park.

First pitch for tonight’s game will be at 7:10 p.m. and will be shown on NESN in the Red Sox television market. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Southwest in the Rangers television market. And for those not in either market, the game will also be shown nationally on the MLB Network. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2010 Red Sox radio network.

Clay Buchholz will look to deliver Francona a nice outing on the bump as he fights for his pitching life in the Red Sox rotation. Clay’s made two starts this season and is 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA. He made one start in 2009 against the Rangers taking the loss after allowing three runs in four innings. He’s made two career starts against the Rangers and is 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA.

C.J. Wilson moved out of the pen and into the starting rotation in 2010 for the Rangers. He’s making his third start this season and just the 9th of his career. He’s 0-1 with a 2.08 ERA. He’s made 12 career appearances in relief against the Red Sox and is 0-1 with a 2.53 ERA and three saves, all of which came last season. In six appearances at Fenway, he is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA (2 ER/3 IP) and a save.

Keep reading for lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and pregame links.

5-9		6-9
1. Elvis Andrus	SS	1. Marco Scutaro	SS
2. Michael Young	3B	2. J.D. Drew	RF
3. Josh Hamilton	LF	3. Dustin Pedroia	2B
4. Nelson Cruz	DH	4. Kevin Youkilis	1B
5. David Murphy	RF	5. Victor Martinez	C
6. Chris Davis	1B	6. Mike Lowell	DH
7. Taylor Teagarden	C	7. Adrian Beltre	3B
8. Andres Blanco	2B	8. Darnell McDonald	CF
9. Julio Borbon	CF	9. Bill Hall	LF
C.J. Wilson	SP	Clay Buchholz	SP