Dustin Brown makes his first career start Sunday as he will catch Jon Lester in Sunday’s four-game series finale with the Texas Rangers. Mike Cameron also bats sixth and plays center field for the Red Sox.

Brown was called up on Saturday and came into catch the ninth inning after Ryan Shealy pinch-hit for Kevin Cash in the eighth. Brown popped out to short in the 10th in his only plate appearance of the night.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Guerrero makes his first career regular season start in left field, allowing slugger Josh Hamilton to DH for manager Ron Washington. Guerrero has appeared in left field only twice in the majors, in the 2000 and 2006 All-Star Games.

With the Red Sox’ spring training facility closed to media until noon this morning as pitchers and catchers take their physicals, it seemed as fine a time as any to offer the following rainy day story to pass the time:

It did not take Red Sox catcher Dusty Brown long to realize that the culture of winter ball in the Dominican was different than anything he’d seen before.

What can Brown do for the Red Sox?

Brown, who hit .290/.377/.471 last year in Triple-A Pawtucket, joined the Azucareros del Este for the Dominican Winter League season. His team was greeted by a deluge prior to its Opening Day contest, one that seemed all but certain to lead to a cancellation on a field with poor drainage and threadbare tarps.

That didn’t happen. Once the rain stopped, an armada of locals raced to the field with what Brown described as sponges, pushing piles of rainwater onto the infield. After roughly a one-hour delay, the infield dirt was deemed sufficiently clear – at least by game officials – to proceed with the pomp and circumstance befitting a season opener, including pre-game introductions of the two teams.

But this was no ordinary set of introductions. After the players lined up along both foul lines, Brown was caught off guard when a little person raced from the home dugout and sprinted around the bases, wildly waving a flag as he made his circuit. The sight was unexpected enough (though, perhaps had Brown ever made the acquaintance of the late Nelson de la Rosa in the Red Sox clubhouse, it would not have been), but events truly took a turn for the surreal when the vertically challenged individual round third to head for the plate.

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