The Red Sox also made a lineup change, putting rookie Jacoby Ellsbury in center field in place of Coco Crisp, who was batting .143 in the series with six strikeouts. Ellsbury, who will bat eighth, played just 33 games in Boston this year, batting .353; he was 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts.

"He does a lot of things. He can really run," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He's not up here for the ride, he's up here to win. When you get a young player like that, that's pretty special. You can get a guy playing and maybe get some hits that help you. But when you get a young kid that seems to understand Boston, what every game means, that has a chance to make him even a better player."

Nixon, who played the first 13 years of his career in the Boston organization, replaced Franklin Gutierrez in right field for the Indians. Gutierrez is batting .133 in the series, but hit a three-run homer in Game 2.

Indians manager Eric Wedge had a long list of reasons for playing the 34-year-old Nixon.

"He knows right field here," Wedge said. "He's a left-handed bat. Presence. Fenway Park. Emotion. We'll put it all together and see what happens."

The seventh overall pick in the 1993 draft, Nixon played eight seasons in Boston and helped the Red Sox end their 86-year title drought in 2004. He gave up the starting job to Gutierrez during the season, played once in the first-round series against the Yankees and was 0-f0r-3 in Game 3 of the ALCS.

"Trot has obviously played so many games here in right field, big games, in the postseason," Wedge said. "To get that experience in the lineup, another left-handed bat, a guy that's been a leader on our team all year long, I felt like it was the right thing to do."

Neither manager relished the idea of taking his regular right-fielder out of the lineup.

"Everybody wants to play, everybody wants to compete this time of year," Wedge said. "But you swallow that, you come to the ballpark, you do your work and you get ready to get in there."

Francona said he also considered subbing Alex Cora at shortstop for Julio Lugo, who's batting .214 in the playoffs. But the manager opted against it because of Lugo's speed and because Cora hadn't played at all in the ALCS.

So Crisp takes over the role Ellsbury had played: a potential late-inning defensive replacement or pinch-runner.