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Red Sox vs. Mariners lineups: Victorino bats second, Ortiz sits

With David Ortiz out of the lineup, the Red Sox are putting their faith in a resurgent Shane Victorino Sunday afternoon.

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

David Ortiz is out of the lineup Sunday afternoon as the Red Sox try to lock up a series win against the Seattle Marinres and get back to .500 in the process.

BOSTON RED SOX (18-19) SEATTLE MARINERS (16-20)
Mookie Betts - CF Brad Miller - SS
Shane Victorino - RF Justin Ruggiano - RF
Dustin Pedroia - 2B Robinson Cano - 2B
Hanley Ramirez - DH Nelson Cruz - DH
Mike Napoli - 1B Kyle Seager - 3B
Pablo Sandoval - 3B Logan Morrison - 1B
Xander Bogaerts - SS Rickie Weeks - LF
Brock Holt - LF Dustin Ackley - CF
Blake Swihart - C Mike Zunino - C
Steven Wright - RHP James Paxton - LHP

It's not exactly the perfect time to get David Ortiz a day off given that he's coming off a couple of strong days at the plate--the first he's had in a while in the midst of a dire May. Hopefully, though, that momentum will survive the layoff. In the meantime, it gives the Red Sox a chance to get Hanley Ramirez out of left field for a game.

With Ortiz out of the lineup, the Sox will also shift Shane Victorino way up to second, bumping Pedroia into the vacated three-hole. It's an aggressive move coming after just a few successful games from Victorino in his return to action, but it does come against a lefty, and having those three games to go on is certainly better than nothing.

The real question today, though, will be what Steven Wright can do on the mound. He's more of a placeholder than anything else at the moment--not so much for Justin Masterson as for whichever of the Pawtucket trio of Eduardo Rodriguez, Brian Johnson, and to a lesser extent Henry Owens demands a shot first. But if the knuckleballer can put up some solid results, maybe he'll hold on if the other underperforming members of Boston's rotation don't step up in the mantime.

First pitch is at 4:10 p.m. ET with broadcasts on NESN and WEEI.