Red Sox vs. Blue Jays lineups: David Ortiz sits as Sox go for series win

The Sox are out to take their first series in their last three tries, but will have to knock off Chad Jenkins and the Toronto Blue Jays without the help of David Ortiz.

Boston Red Sox (22-15)

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Shane Victorino, RF
3. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
4. Mike Napoli, DH
5. Daniel Nava, LF
6. Mike Carp, 1B
7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
8. Will Middlebrooks, 3B
9. Stephen Drew, SS

Starting Pitcher -- Ryan Dempster

Toronto Blue Jays (14-24)

1. Melky Cabrera, LF
2. Jose Bautista, RF
3. Edwin Encarnacion, DH
4. J.P. Arencibia, C
5. Adam Lind, 1B
6. Brett Lawrie, 3B
7. Colby Rasmus, CF
8. Emilio Bonifacio, 2B
9. Munenori Kawasaki, SS

Starting Pitcher -- Chad Jenkins

It's interesting. Depending on how you look at it, this is either the absolute best or absolute worst time to sit David Ortiz. On the one hand, the big man is slumping hard, and has been at fault for a great number of the runners left on base in recent games. On the other hand, with Boston struggling so much as a team right now, particularly in terms of clutch hits, it would seem that they can ill afford to lose one of the most productive bats of the last decade.

Hopefully some Carp magic will serve to fill the void, because the Red Sox really need a series win right about now. Last night's late-inning loss had a very September 2011 vibe to it, and that's the sort of thing that can snowball. The Sox need more than a series win--right now they could really use five straight--but any run has to start with just the one, and right now that's proving difficult enough for this bunch.

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