Welcome to Fenway

To give you an idea of what the Os think they’re in for, a few words from second-year manager Dave Trembley: “It’s not easy. This division isn’t easy. Everybody’s a contender and this time of year they’re not giving you any at-bats. They’re trying to beat your butt.”

The Orioles didn’t do the Red Sox any favors over the weekend, losing three straight to Tampa Bay, including a 10-9 decision on Saturday in which they wasted a 7-3 lead after five innings. Baltimore has lost eight of their last nine.

The Sox won seven of the nine series they played in August, including two of three from the White Sox over the weekend after splitting a four-game set with in Chicago earlier this month.

After being scratched from the lineup because of illness, Kevin Youkilis is back in the cleanup spot Monday tonight.

Manager Terry Francona said, “He called this morning, said he kept enough food down to where he felt strong enough. He’s ready to go.”

Francona said righthander Josh Beckett would long-toss Tuesday, and sounded optimistic about him pitching soon.

“Health-wise, I think we think he’s ready to go,” Francona said. “He missed two weeks. I guess we always reserve the right to make a change. I don’t anticipate that happening. I think he’s revved up about it and I think all systems are fine to go."

What might change when he returns is how deep Beckett pitches into games.

“We might hold him short a little bit, because it’s been a little while," he said. "But getting him back started even if we have to hold him short would be fine.”

Mike Lowell took ground balls before the game, and Francona said he’d take BP in the batting cages and work toward moving to batting practice outdoors. He said J.D. Drew would be in the cage as well.

Baltimore has center fielder Adam Jones back in the lineup hitting second after being sidelined since Aug. 3 with a broken foot. Jones was hitting .279 with seven home runs and 50 RBIs before he went down.

Last but not least, here’s a line on Bartolo Colon out of Pawtucket: 6 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 2 walk, 2 strikeout, 66 pitches.

And your lineups:

Boston (79-57)
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, right field
Leads the American League with 43 steals
2. Dustin Pedroia, second base
.326, 15 home runs, 274 total bases
3. David Ortiz, designated hitter
.429 in last six games (9 for 21) with five runs scored
4. Kevin Youkilis, third base
.318, 24 home runs, and a team-high 94 RBIs
5. Jason Bay, left field,
His 29 RBIs led the team in August
6. Jed Lowrie, shortstop
Looking for first multi-hit game since Aug. 12 against Texas
7. Jason Varitek, catcher
Hit two home runs in last series against the O's
8. Jeff Bailey, first base
.269, 1 home run, 4 RBIs
9. Coco Crisp, center field
.263, 7 home runs, 33 RBIs

Baltimore (63-73)
1. Brian Roberts, second base (.299, 9, 52)
2. Adam Jones, center field (.279, 7, 50)
3. Nick Markakis, right field, (.308, 18, 79)
4. Aubrey Huff, third base (.311, 30, 98)
5. Ramon Hernandez, catcher (.258, 14, 59)
6. Luke Scott, designated hitter (.270, 21, 57)
7. Kevin Millar, first base (.241, 19, 69)
8. Jay Payton, left field (.255, 7, 40)
9. Juan Castro, shortstop (.204, 1, 13)

Pitching Matchup
Paul Byrd, Boston, (9-11, 4.55 ERA, 65 strikeouts) vs. Garrett Olson, Baltimore, (8-6, 6.38 ERA, 68 strikeouts)