Ron Washington has been insisting that there isn't a platoon in left field, despite Jeff Baker starting the previous four games with a lefty on the mound.
And consistent with that claim, David Murphy is sitting again today, with righthander John Lackey starting for Boston.
John Blake just tweeted the lineup, and Murphy is sitting for his fifth straight game, with Leonys Martin playing left field and Craig Gentry playing right center field.
The Leonys/Gentry/Nelson Cruz outfield is probably the team's best defensive alignment in the outfield, but starting Gentry in place of Murphy is curious, given that Gentry isn't hitting much right now, either. Gentry is 4 for his last 24 and has a .167/.231/.167 line in his last 9 games, and is hitting .220/.304/.260 overall on the year. For his career, Gentry is hitting .256/.319/.317 against RHPs, including .118/.211/.235 against RHPs this season.
Murphy pinch hit for Jeff Baker in the 5th inning of yesterday's game and ended up going 0 for 3 with a pair of strikeouts. He is hitting .168/.225/.284 on the year, and is 1 for his last 18 with 3 walks.
UPDATE -- Beat reporters on Twitter say Murphy isn't starting because he has a stomach bug. That makes him sitting make a lot more sense.