Adley Rutschman back in fifth spot in lineup after best game with Red Sox; Wilyer Abreu hitting third

BOSTON — Flip-flopping Wilyer Abreu and Adley Rutschman in Monday’s lineup worked well for the Red Sox in their 11-run barrage against the Diamondbacks. On Tuesday night, they’ll aim for the same output with a similar lineup.

For the second straight game, Abreu is batting third and Rutschman is hitting fifth against Arizona right-hander Merrill Kelly. In the first four games Abreu and Rutschman were both in the lineup along with first baseman Willson Contreras, interim manager Chad Tracy had Rutschman hitting third. Now, things have flipped.

Rutschman, who is 3-for-22 (.136) with five walks and nine strikeouts in six games with the Red Sox, had his best offensive performance since being traded to Boston on Monday. He went 2-for-5 with an RBI double in the rout; Abreu was 2-for-4 with two doubles to continue a torrid start to August.

“As long as we’ve got Willson sandwiched in between the two, that’s kinda interchangeable,” Tracy said. “If one of them’s really hot, you can do it one way. If the other one gets hot, you can do it the other way. It structures well either way. I just felt like with the way Wilyer was going, let’s do it that way for now.”

For the second night in a row, Mickey Gasper — who hit his first Red Sox homer Monday — will be the designated hitter. He’ll hit ninth with Jarren Duran in left field over Eli White, who played there against the left-handed Mitch Bratt on Tuesday.

The Red Sox are looking to clinch their first series win in four tries after dropping three series in a row to the Athletics, Blue Jays and Pirates. They’ll have two chances to get one more win against Arizona, which is without Ketel Marte and Nolan Arenado in Boston. Boston has lost seven of its last 10 games.

Lefty Ranger Suarez will pitch for the Red Sox. Suarez has not given the Red Sox much since coming off the injured list on July 26 after a three-week absence due to a groin strain. The All-Star lefty has logged a 3.78 ERA in that span but has gone just five innings once, in his last outing last week in Toronto. He has averaged just over four innings per start as the Red Sox build his pitch count up slowly.

First pitch on Tuesday is at 7:10 p.m. ET.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS (66-60) vs. BOSTON RED SOX (67-58) · FENWAY PARK · BOSTON, MA · GAME 126

FIRST PITCH: 7:10 p.m. ET

TV CHANNEL: NESN

RADIO: WEEI 93.7 FM

PITCHING PROBABLES: RHP Merrill Kelly (8-10, 5.11 ERA) vs. LHP Ranger Suarez (4-3, 3.25 ERA)

RED SOX LINEUP:

1. Nick Sogard 2B
2. Ceddanne Rafaela CF
3. Wilyer Abreu RF
4. Willson Contreras 1B
5. Adley Rutschman C
6. Caleb Durbin 3B
7. Jarren Duran LF
8. Andruw Monasterio SS
9. Mickey Gasper DH

DIAMONDBACKS LINEUP:

1. Ildemaro Vargas 2B
2. Corbin Carroll RF
3. Gabriel Moreno DH
4. Geraldo Perdomo SS
5. Tim Tawa 1B
6. Jordan Lawlar CF
7. James McCann C
8. Jose Fernandez 3B
9. Ryan Waldschmidt LF

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