Ortiz in, Gonzalez to start in RF Wednesday

By Sean McAdam
CSNNE.com Red Sox InsiderFollow @sean_mcadam
PHILADELPHIA -- After several days of hemming and hawing, the Red Sox are ready to take the plunge.

Two sources indicated that David Ortiz will be at first base with Adrian Gonzalez in right field Wednesday night in the middle game of the Red Sox' three-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Tuesday afternoon, manager Terry Francona continued to wrestle with the idea.

"We've talked about it ad nauseum," said Francona. "We'll talk about it a little bit more."

As anxious as Francona has been about deploying Gonzalez in the outfield, general manager Theo Epstien has been even more
apprehensive.

But Tuesday, Gonzalez spoke with Epstein in an effort to allay any concerns he might be harboring and was persuasive enough to get the go-ahead.

It helps that the Sox are facing a righthander -- rookie Vance Worley -- Wednesday night, giving the Sox an opportunity to get two powerful bats into the lineup.