Red Sox vs. Mariners Lineup: Can Steven Wright keep it going?

The Red Sox are coming off an incredibly frustrating loss in which the offense was improbably able to knock talented lefty James Paxton out of the game early (granted with plenty of help from Seattle’s defense) but still lost because of the lineup struggling late in the game and the bullpen giving up key runs. They’ll look not to turn it into a streak, and in the process look for yet another strong game from Steven Wright. The knuckleballer has been incredible this season and after a couple of bad outings upon his return from a domestic abuse suspension, he’s been lights out and hasn’t allowed any runs. Through this run some have pointed to the level of competition as a reason, and while I tend to think knuckleballers will be either good or bad based on how their throwing rather than the competition more than anyone else, this will certainly be his biggest test.

Meanwhile, the offense will look to get going against a lefty for the second straight night, something they haven’t really done all year. The good news is that they’ll have Andrew Benintendi back after a night off. Tonight it’s Mitch Moreland’s turn to get a day off. Blake Swihart will be manning first base, and while the downgrade is clear on both sides of the ball Moreland has been struggling mightily of late and struggles against southpaws. This was an obvious night to give him some rest. Other than that, things are mostly normal. Here’s the full lineups.