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Red Sox vs. Padres lineups: Mike Carp lives!

Mike Carp is not only alive, but also batting sixth as the Red Sox take on the Padres in Fenway Park.

By Ben Buchanan
Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

It's true! It's true! Mike Carp is still with us, friends, and not just in that nebulous "occasional pinch hitting appearance" sort of way. Instead, he's batting sixth Wednesday night as the Red Sox try to secure a series victory over the San Diego Padres.

It's been nearly a week now since Carp has started a game, despite his ridiculous numbers on the season. And given that his hamstring had been acting up not long ago, it seems likely that was, on some level, to blame. Finally, though, Carp will get a chance to continue his campaign in earnest with a start at first base against Edinson Volquez and the Padres.

Boston Red Sox (51-34)

  1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
  2. Shane Victorino, RF
  3. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
  4. David Ortiz, DH
  5. Daniel Nava, LF
  6. Mike Carp, 1B
  7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
  8. Brandon Snyder, 3B
  9. Jose Iglesias, SS
Starting Pitcher -- Jon Lester

San Diego Padres (40-44)

  1. Logan Forsythe, 2B
  2. Chris Denorfia, RF
  3. Carlos Quentin, LF
  4. Chase Headley, 3B
  5. Kyle Blanks, DH
  6. Jesus Guzman, 1B
  7. Yasmani Grandal, C
  8. Pedro Ciriaco, SS
  9. Alexi Amarista, CF

Starting Pitcher -- Edinson Volquez

Having Jon Lester on the mound has not been the best sign for a Red Sox game these past two months. Still, in his last outing, Lester finally seemed to be taking a step in the right direction. He still ended up with four runs to his name, but two of those came in the eighth, and were allowed to score by Junichi Tazawa. There's no guarantee that those first seven innings were anything more than a positive blip on the radar, but there's certainly more hope that Lester will pitch well tonight than we've had in a while.

Fortunately, the Padres will be offering up a pitcher who might hand the Red Sox a win even if Lester isn't on. The owner of a 5.50 ERA and a nice fat 4.34 BB/9, Edinson Volquez is a guy who needs his ground balls to turn into double plays to survive. Up against a Red Sox lineup which really put on a plate discipline show in last night's game, things could get ugly for him tonight.

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