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Napoli, Papi sit out against Price

ST. PETERSBURG -- Not only did Shane Victorino go on the disabled list on Saturday, but Red Sox manager John Farrell also had to put together a lineup that didn't include David Ortiz or Mike Napoli, the team's two top sluggers.

Napoli missed two games earlier this week with the flu and is still dealing with issues from the left ring finger he dislocated in Chicago on April 15. Ortiz has had some trouble with his right calf since tweaking it late in Spring Training.

"Nap is still dealing with the effects from the flu. The dislocated finger is still giving him issues. And with a hamstring, and he's dealing with a calf thing, as well," said Farrell. "We're beat up, obviously. With the lineup that we have in there today, we're beat up. Nap is going to be day to day. I can't say this is a one-day thing. There might be more days needed than that. We're hopeful to avoid downtime with the DL with him."

Clearly, it wasn't the most opportune day for Ortiz to be out of the lineup, but Farrell also felt he needed a down day.

"David with the calf issue, this was also a planned day to deal with that and manage it to go forward. Despite the other two guys being out of the lineup I didn't want to deviate from that," Farrell said. "We're dealing with each one of them individually and this is what his situation called for."

Entering the day with an eight-game losing streak, the Red Sox went with a lineup that featured Mike Carp. Brock Holt, Xander Bogaerts and Dustin Pedroia filling out the top three spots. Jonny Gomes, A.J. Pierzynski (designated hitter), Grady Sizemore, David Ross and Jackie Bradley Jr. filled out the rest of the lineup against Rays ace David Price.

Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Brownie Points, and follow him on Twitter @IanMBrowne.
Read More: Boston Red Sox, Mike Napoli, David Ortiz