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Red Sox lineup: Backup catcher (hitting .417) gets start in series finale vs. Cardinals
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- Red Sox lineup: Backup catcher (hitting .417) gets start in series finale vs. Cardinals
ST. LOUIS — Inspired by his team's five-run outburst in the ninth inning of Saturday's win, Alex Cora is rolling with a similar lineup Sunday. There's one exception, though, as backup catcher Connor Wong is catching Brayan Bello and hitting eighth.
Wong, who is 5-for-12 (.417) with three doubles and an RBI in five games this season, will start for just the second time in the last eight games as the Red Sox go for a series win in St. Louis. Much like he did for most of last season, Wong will catch righty Brayan Bello. Bello threw to catcher Carlos Narváez in his last outing on Monday against Milwaukee .
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For the second straight day, Roman Anthony is the designated hitter with Jarren Duran starting in left field. Masataka Yoshida is again the odd man out of the outfield/DH rotation.
"Same lineup, except Narvy. Roll it back and hopefully gain momentum," said Cora. "That's the only reason."
The Red Sox entered the season expecting their catchers to have a similar playing time share as they did in 2025, when Narváez emerged as the starter and caught 106 games and Wong caught 52. So far, there have been 10 starts for Narváez and just four (five, counting Sunday) for Wong. Cora wants to get both catchers at-bats; Narváez is hitting .242 but does not have an extra-base hit so far this season and has a .507 OPS.
"The schedule will help us through this," Cora said. "We've got to get Carlos going too. He put two good swings yesterday... I think both are in a really good place."
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On the mound, Bello will look to follow the lead of Saturday starter Ranger Suárez and bounce back after a rough start to the season . The righty has failed to complete five innings in either of his first two starts and was tagged for three earned runs on five hits in 3 ⅓ innings in his last outing against the Brewers.
The Red Sox, who are 5-9 so far, are looking for their second straight series win. They'll face righty Andre Pallante , who had strong outings against the Mets and Nationals to start his season.
First pitch is at 2:15 p.m. ET and the game is on NESN.
BOSTON RED SOX (5-9) vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (8-6) · BUSCH STADIUM · ST. LOUIS, MO · GAME 15
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FIRST PITCH: 2:15 p.m. ET
TV CHANNEL: NESN
RADIO: WEEI 93.7 FM
PITCHING PROBABLES: RHP Brayan Bello (0-1, 9.00 ERA) vs. RHP Andre Pallante (1-0, 1.80 ERA)
RED SOX LINEUP:
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Roman Anthony DH
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Caleb Durbin 3B
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Jarren Duran LF
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Wilyer Abreu RF
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Trevor Story SS
CARDINALS LINEUP:
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JJ Wetherholt 2B
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Nolan Gorman DH
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Ramón Urías 3B
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José Fermín LF
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