Red Sox at Blue Jays lineup: “Game One” sounds like a great idea

As bad as the Red Sox have been over the last week, they haven’t lost two games in a single day, but fear not: They can accomplish that very feat before midnight, if they try.

Yes, the Red Sox have a doubleheader today against the Jays, starting this afternoon behind Nick Pivetta (3:07 p.m., NESN). Alex Cora has practically begged his starters to throw deeper into games, and with a 7-inning squareup on tap, every out Pivetta records will be that much more important than a 9-inning game. Progress is guaranteed!

Frankly, the Sox can use any help they can muster, accounting tricks included, against lefty Robbie Ray and the Jays, who did the very Jays thing of scoring seven runs in an inning yesterday behind their big-boy bats. All of said bats are back in the lineup and perfectly capable of running yesterday back, which is why Pivetta needs to dig deeper than ever if he’s gonna pull the Sox out of their tailspin.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Sox again took a while-ish with their lineups, and when they finally released them, J.D. Martinez was nowhere to be found, with Christian Vázquez DHing and batting seventh. Gotta try anything, I suppose. See you in a few hours.