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Red Sox vs. Astros lineups: No light at the end of the tunnel

Three months into the season and you'd think maybe we'd be done with Joe Kelly and Mike Napoli starting games. Nope. Some of the worst aspects of 2015 are on display Wednesday night while one of the best sits out.

Mookie Betts and Pablo Sandoval will sit out Wednesday night as the Red Sox continue to look for their first win of the second half in Houston.

Today's Lineups

BOSTON RED SOX HOUSTON ASTROS
Dustin Pedroia - 2B Jose Altuve - 2B
Brock Holt - 3B Preston Tucker - LF
Xander Bogaerts - SS Carlos Correa - SS
David Ortiz - DH Luis Valbuena - 3B
Hanley Ramirez - LF Evan Gattis - DH
Alejandro De Aza - CF Colby Rasmus - RF
Shane Victorino - RF Jonathan Singleton - 1B
Mike Napoli - 1B Jake Marisnick - CF
Blake Swihart - C Jason Castro - C
Joe Kelly - RHP Collin McHugh - RHP

Normally a day without Mookie would seem like a day wasted for a Red Sox team which has so few positives going for it. But with Betts mired in a nasty slump to start the second half--and his super-fluky double yesterday doesn't really snap that--it's understandable that the Sox might want to get him a day to clear his head.

Meanwhile, Mike Napoli continues to start games in July somehow. But so does Joe Kelly, pretty much confirming that we are now living in a world gone completely mad. It doesn't actually matter all that much given that the results of the games aren't terribly important anymore with the Sox solidly on the outside looking in, but it seems like maybe a concession could be made to the mental health of fans everywhere by not continuing to inflict the worst aspects of 2015 on us all game in and game out.

First pitch is at 8:10 p.m. ET with broadcasts on NESN and WEEI. And if this past week is any indication, viewer discretion is most certainly advised.