Guillen at DH, Thames in LF

It’s sounding less likely now that Carlos Guillen will be playing LF in any of these four games at Fenway Park. There is good news on Guillen, who said today he’s hitting off a tee right-handed and feeling a lot better doing it. As we’ve seen, that can change from one day to the next, but the fact that Guillen is at least allowing himself to feel upbeat about it is somewhat good news.

With Guillen out of the field, Marcus Thames in starting in left, giving him some chances to try to clear the Green Monster. He’s 1-for-1 for his career off Red Sox starter Brady Penny with a two-run homer. That came at Comerica Park last June, when Penny was still with the Dodgers.

TIGERS

1. Granderson, CF
2. Polanco, 2B
3. Thames, LF
4. Cabrera, 1B
5. Guillen, DH
6. Ordonez, RF
7. Inge, 3B
8. Laird, C
9. Everett, SS

P: Edwin Jackson

RED SOX

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Victor Martinez, C
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
5. David Ortiz, DH
6. J.D. Drew, RF
7. Jason Bay, LF
8. Casey Kotchman, 1B
9. Nick Green, SS

SP: Brad Penny