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BOSTON — Since taking over at shortstop in the wake of Trevor Story’s injury, Marcelo Mayer has started 15 of 20 games at the position. On Thursday afternoon, he’ll get a breather.
Mayer, who is hitting .172 with one homer and a .575 OPS in 34 June plate appearances, has the day off against Toronto righty Trey Yesavage as the Red Sox try to avoid a sweep at Fenway Park. Isiah Kiner-Falefa is at shortstop with Andruw Monasterio in the lineup for the second straight day, this time at second base.
Mayer is not dealing with anything injury-wise, interim manager Chad Tracy said. It’s just a day off for the infielder.
“Just a day,” Tracy said. “Keep trying to pop some people in there to get at-bats and give guys a breather.”
Mayer showed signs of life last week at Tropicana Field, as he had a homer and a double in that series. In five games since the Red Sox returned home, though, the 23-year-old is 2-for-15 (.133) with four strikeouts and no extra-base hits.
“Like the rest of the group, having ups and downs,” Tracy said. “There’s periods where you feel like this is getting a lot better and then some stretches of at-bats where you feel like it’s not as good and then it goes again. We’ve just got to keep pushing.”
Mickey Gasper is leading off as the designated hitter with Masataka Yoshida sitting and Connor Wong catching righty Sonny Gray, as he does in Gray’s recent outings. The Red Sox are desperate for an offensive outburst after scoring just one run in the first two games against Toronto.
Gray, who has pitched three straight quality starts and has won each of them, leads the American League in win percentage (8-1). He has a career 2.91 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) against Toronto.
First pitch is at 1:35 p.m. ET on a getaway day because the Red Sox are flying to Seattle after the game.
TORONTO BLUE JAYS (36-38) vs. BOSTON RED SOX (29-42) · FENWAY PARK · BOSTON, MA · GAME 72
FIRST PITCH: 1:35 p.m. ET
TV CHANNEL: NESN
RADIO: WEEI 93.7 FM
PITCHING PROBABLES: RHP Trey Yesavage (3-3, 3.78 ERA) vs. RHP Sonny Gray (8-1, 3.03 ERA)
RED SOX LINEUP:
- Mickey Gasper DH
- Ceddanne Rafaela CF
- Wilyer Abreu RF
- Willson Contreras 1B
- Jarren Duran LF
- Isiah Kiner-Falefa SS
- Caleb Durbin 3B
- Connor Wong C
- Andruw Monasterio 2B
BLUE JAYS LINEUP:
- George Springer DH
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B
- Jesús Sánchez RF
- Yohendrick Piñango LF
- Ernie Clement 2B
- Nathan Lukes CF
- Kazuma Okamoto 3B
- Brandon Valenzuela C
- Andrés Giménez SS
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More Red Sox coverage
- Red Sox exec: ‘Brutal’ and ‘unthinkable’ to be trade deadline sellers, but team will do what is best
- Ex-Red Sox starter out for the season with thoracic outlet syndrome
- Fenway Insider Live: Sean McAdam on Driveline, Craig Breslow and more
- Red Sox rookie gives ‘really good effort’ but what happened on those steals?
- Red Sox (13 stranded) experience déjà vu as offensive struggles continue
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