The Red Sox continue to wait on the health of outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and Victor Martinez, both of whom are out of the lineup again when the team opens a four-game series against Kansas City on Thursday night.
Ellsbury is being re-evaluated by team doctors prior to the game, but he has seemingly made no progress with his sore left side and will miss his third straight contest.
"We've gotta get to the bottom of this," manager Terry Francona said of the situation.
Center fielder Mike Cameron, who played the last two nights, is also out against the Royals. He is not expected to play three straight games for a little bit as he works his way back from an abdominal strain.
Their absences leave Francona with an outfield of Jeremy Hermida in left field, Bill Hall in center and J.D. Drew in right.
Jason Varitek will make his third straight start behind the plate as Martinez continues to recover from a bruised left big toe. The plan is to get Martinez back for Friday's game with Tim Wakefield on the mound.
Varitek is 0-for-6 against Royals starter Brian Bannister, but others have enjoyed plenty of success. In fact, the rest of the Red Sox lineup Thursday is batting .342 (26-for-76) with five home runs when facing the right-hander.
Here are the lineups for both teams:
Red Sox
Marco Scutaro, SS
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
J.D. Drew, RF
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Jeremy Hermida, LF
Jason Varitek, C
Bill Hall, CF
Royals
Scott Podsednik, LF
Mike Aviles, SS
David DeJesus, RF
Billy Butler, 1B
Jose Guillen, DH
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
Mitch Maier, CF
Jason Kendall, C
Chris Getz, 2B
