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World Series 2013: Shane Victorino, Jonny Gomes, David Ross in Game 6 lineup

The Red Sox are expecting to have Shane Victorino back in their lineup for Game 6, where he will be joined by Jonny Gomes and David Ross.

By Ben Buchanan
Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Game 6 may be better than 10 hours away, but the lineup for the Boston Red Sox has long-since started taking shape:

We can pretty much assume by this point that Xander Bogaerts is in the lineup. That should not change for many years to come. And Stephen Drew seems likely to stay in as well given that he's still shining with the glove, and even showed the slightest signs of life at the plate in Game 5, drawing a walk and nearly leaving the park.

What remains to be seen is whether the Red Sox will stick with the modified order they utilized in Game 5 with Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz batting 2-3. There's no more issue of protection for Ortiz with Mike Napoli back in the lineup now that the series has shifted back to Fenway, but Shane Victorino has missed two games due to injury, and wasn't exactly swinging a big bat before he left. A move down in the order might be warranted.

In that case it would be interesting to see who bats fifth. John Farrell gave Jonny Gomes a big role in Game 5 and was rewarded with three strikeouts in an 0-for-4 performance. Meanwhile, Xander Bogaerts has five hits in his last 11 trips to the plate. It might seem a bit out there to put an inexperienced player in such an important spot, but there are few rookies who can look quite so cool and collected when their 51st Major League at bat comes as a starter in the Fall Classic.

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