The Red Sox are back in first place in the American League East after a 15-inning marathon win against the Mariners on Wednesday night, and now they have a chance to sweep Seattle right out of town.
But if Boston is going to win three straight against the Mariners, the Sox will have to beat Felix Hernandez, who hasn’t lost a game since May 25.
Hernandez is pitching lights-out baseball right now, going 6-0 with a 2.34 ERA in his last 11 starts. The Red Sox were one of his victims during that stretch, as Hernandez went seven innings and allowed two earned runs in an 11-4 Seattle win on July 8.
Ryan Dempster will get the start for Boston, and he is coming off of a tough start the last time he faced the Mariners on July 11. He allowed seven runs, four of which were earned, on nine hits in only 3 1/3 innings.
As for the lineups, Boston will feature a couple of changes from Wednesday night. Mike Carp will move to first base in place of Mike Napoli, and Ryan Lavarnway will get the start at catcher instead of Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who will get some much-needed rest after catching all 15 innings on Wednesday.
Check out the rest of the starting lineups below.
Boston Red Sox (65-44)
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Shane Victorino, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Carp, 1B
Stephen Drew, SS
Daniel Nava, LF
Ryan Lavarnway, C
Brock Holt, 3B
Ryan Dempster, RHP
Seattle Mariners (50-57)
Brad Miller, SS
Nick Franklin, 2B
Kyle Seager, 3B
Kendrys Morales, DH
Micahel Saunders, CF
Justin Smoak, 1B
Endy Chavez, RF
Dustin Ackley, LF
Henry Blanco, C
Felix Hernandez, RHP
