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Red Sox vs. Orioles lineups: Napoli sits, Holt plays first

After striking out four times and seeing his average dip below .200 in Wednesday night's loss, Mike Napoli will sit out for Wednesday night's game against the Orioles.

By Ben Buchanan
Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

AMike Napoli will sit out Wednesday night with Brock Holt taking his usual spot at first base as the Red Sox try to bounce back behind Clay Buchholz.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES BOSTON RED SOX
Manny Machado - 3B Mookie Betts - CF
Chris Parmelee - RF Brock Holt - 1B
Jimmy Paredes - DH Dustin Pedroia - 2B
Chris Davis - 1B David Ortiz - DH
J.J. Hardy - SS Hanley Ramirez - LF
Travis Snider - LF Xander Bogaerts - SS
Ryan Flaherty - 2B Pablo Sandoval - 3B
Caleb Joseph - C Alejandro De Aza - RF
David Lough - CF Sandy Leon - C
Bud Norris - RHP Clay Buchholz - RHP

It's actually been a while since Buchholz has been completely screwed over by the offense supporting him--the Red Sox have scored 16 runs for him in his last three starts which, if not extraordinary, is more than respectable--but at this point taking out Mike Napoli for whoever can play the part just seems like due diligence. It's a sad state of affairs, but if the Sox are still looking to win games, the formula probably shouldn't involve Mike Napoli.

In fact, when you consider how they've played recently, and give David Ortiz credit for his splits against a righty, this Red Sox lineup actually looks a little...dangerous. It tails off sharply at the end, and the Red Sox could really use Blake Swihart or Ryan Hanigan back behind the plate, but these are no longer the days of hoping for three runs and settling for one.

At least we hope they're not.

First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. ET with broadcasts on NESN and WEEI.

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