Yeah, so that's not a very encouraging headline.

Mauro Gomez will take over at DH Wednesday night-the second of at least 15 the Red Sox will spend without their preferred starter now that David Ortiz has been placed on the disabled list.

The good news is that Mauro Gomez at DH is certainly prefferable to Mauro Gomez anywhere in the field, and he gets to have his first start come against a left-handed pitcher fresh from not just the minor leagues, but basically Double-A, having only managed 12 innings against Triple-A competition so far this year.

Of course, those of you who have been watching this team consistently enough for the last year-and-a-half won't exactly be encouraged by the words "rookie southpaw." If ever there has been a type of pitcher who inexplicably confounds the Sox it's the guy making his major league debut throwing left-handed junk.

Still, perhaps this time the heavy splits will work. Cody Ross batting third, Will Middlebrooks fifth, Kelly Shoppach inexplicably eighth-each one of them can put a hurting on any given lefty.

No, seriously, why is Kelly Shoppach still hitting at the bottom of the lineup? A small sample size is a small sample size, but he's got a pretty solid sample against lefties in his career, and Mauro Gomez is Mauro Gomez.