It is not often that a player can go 5-for-5 with four doubles and then get a night off. But that's the case with Victor Martinez, who will sit to start the Red Sox' meeting with the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night.
Martinez's effort led the Sox to a 9-4 win in Tuesday's series opener. But with Martinez scheduled to catch knuckleballer Tim Wakefield on Thursday afternoon and with a bruised left toe still bothering Boston's starting catcher a bit, it makes sense to put Jason Varitek in the lineup Wednesday.
With Martinez on the bench, David Ortiz moves into the third spot in the lineup and J.D. Drew is slotted fifth. Jeremy Hermida, who went 0-for-12 in three games against Kansas City over the weekend, is back in the lineup for the first time since Saturday and batting seventh.
Boston will be facing Ben Sheets for the first time, but a few members of the starting lineup have seen the Oakland righty in the past.
Drew is 9-for-31 (.290) with four home runs against Sheets. Adrian Beltre, who enters the day fifth in the American League with a .342 average, is 4-for-15 (.267) vs. Sheets. Hermida has a single in five at bats.
