Red Sox lineup has new third baseman, no Masataka Yoshida for Sunday’s rubber game

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ATLANTA — The Red Sox will try to win a series against the best team in baseball on Sunday with a new man at third base.

Nick Sogard, who was called up Friday to take the place of injured shortstop Trevor Story, will hit ninth and play third on Sunday against the Braves with Caleb Durbin out of the lineup. Durbin has started 41 of Boston’s first 45 games at third.

Sogard has played 61 regular season games over the last two seasons for the Red Sox and started two postseason games in the Wild Card Series last fall. He’s familiar to interim manager Chad Tracy, who has managed him in parts of five seasons at Triple-A Worcester. This season, while playing six different positions for the WooSox, Sogard has hit .269 with five homers, 23 RBIs and an .871 OPS.


Sogard will be a candidate to take at-bats from the scuffling Durbin, but it’ll be a “day-to-day” thing at this point, Tracy said.

“It seemed like a good day to give Durbin a breather, and get Sogey in there against Holmes and see what he can do,” Tracy said. “The big thing about Sogy is that he can help us in a lot of ways).”

Durbin is hitting .165 with a .492 OPS so far this season and is 6-for-40 (.150) with two doubles, a walk and eight strikeouts in May.

“He’s just struggling,” Tracy said. “I think you guys know that and I think he knows that. You see little flashes at times. He’s just struggling and the ball is getting in on him some. Working on timing and things like that. We’ve just got to keep pushing along and find breathers for him when we can.”


For the second time in three days, Tracy will opt for Mickey Gasper (8-for-21 since being called up) in the designated hitter spot over Masataka Yoshida, who will sit. Gasper will hit second. Elsewhere in the lineup, Marcelo Mayer is at second against the right-handed Grant Holmes and Carlos Narváez is catching. Andruw Monasterio is the shortstop for the third straight day in Story’s absence.


The Red Sox will start righty Brayan Bello for the first time since April 29, when he got shelled in an outing in Toronto. Boston has used Bello following an opener in his last two outings and he has pitched well, limiting the Tigers and Phillies to two runs on eight hits in 13 ⅓ total innings while striking out 12. Boston’s bullpen is taxed after a series of close games so Tracy chose to give Bello a traditional start instead of using a lefty like Jovaní Morán or Tyler Samaniego to start.

Sunday’s game is a rubber match after the teams split close games to start the series. First pitch is at 1:35 p.m. ET.

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BOSTON RED SOX (19-26) vs. ATLANTA BRAVES (31-15) · TRUIST PARK · ATLANTA, GA · GAME 46

FIRST PITCH: 1:35 p.m. ET

TV CHANNEL: NESN

RADIO: WEEI 93.7 FM

PITCHING PROBABLES: RHP Brayan Bello (2-4, 6.46 ERA) vs. RHP Grant Holmes (2-1, 4.35 ERA)

RED SOX LINEUP:

1. Jarren Duran LF
2. Mickey Gasper DH
3. Wilyer Abreu RF
4. Willson Contreras 1B
5. Ceddanne Rafaela CF
6. Marcelo Mayer 2B
7. Andruw Monasterio SS
8. Carlos Narváez C
9. Nick Sogard 3B

BRAVES LINEUP:

1. Drake Baldwin C
2. Ozzie Albies 2B
3. Matt Olson 1B
4. Michael Harris II CF
5. Austin Riley 3B
6. Dominic Smith DH
7. Jorge Mateo SS
8. Mike Yastrzemski RF
9. José Azócar LF

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