Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 4/1

Jon Lester (L), C.J. Wilson (R)

The Boston Red Sox will kickoff the 2011 season this afternoon with a three-game set against the Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, TX.

First pitch is scheduled to be thrown at 4:05 p.m. and you can watch the game on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Rangers television market, you can watch the game on FOXSports Southwest. And if you don’t live in either market, no need to fret as ESPN will be carrying the game as well. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2011 Red Sox Radio Network.

Jon Lester will make his first career opening day start for skipper Terry Francona and the Red Sox. Lester made 32 starts in 2010 and was 19-9 with a 3.25 ERA. Lester has made seven career starts against the Rangers and is 3-1 with a 2.94 ERA. He’s made two career starts at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington and is 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA. He made two starts against the Rangers in 2010 and was 1-1 with a 1.69 ERA. One of those starts was in Arlington where he picked up the win after throwing eight shutout innings.

C.J. Wilson will also be making his first career opening day start for Ron Washington and the Rangers. He made 33 starts last season and was 15-8 with a 3.35 ERA. He has made 15 career appearances (three starts) against the Red Sox and is 3-1 with a 1.42 ERA and four saves. Wilson made three starts against the Red Sox in 2010 and was 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA.

Click the read more button below for the lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and pregame links and if you’re on the home page.

0-0		0-0
1. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF	1. Ian Kinsler	2B
2. Dustin Pedroia	2B	2. Elvis Andrus	SS
3. Carl Crawford	LF	3. Josh Hamilton	LF
4. Kevin Youkilis	3B	4. Adrian Beltre	3B
5. Adrian Gonzalez	1B	5. Michael Young	DH
6. David Ortiz	DH	6. Nelson Cruz	RF
7. Mike Cameron	RF	7. Mike Napoli	1B
8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C	8. Yorvit Torrealba	C
9. Marco Scutaro	SS	9. Julio Borbon	CF
Jon Lester	SP	C.J. Wilson	SP