The Boston Red Sox won their fourth straight game on Monday, defeating the Miami Marlins at LoanDepot Park with a come-from-behind 4-3 victory.
The Red Sox take on the Marlins again for the middle game of their three-game, interleague set on Tuesday with Boston’s emerging rookie ace Payton Tolle getting the start against Miami’s Tyler Phillips.
Shortly before the game, the Red Sox announced a significant decision on the player who was their marquee trade deadline acquisition August 3, holding the All-Star catcher out of the starting lineup for the second time in the team’s last three games.
Adley Rutschman will sit as Connor Wong gets the nod to catch, continuing interim manager Chad Tracy’s blueprint for the switch-hitting catcher as Boston chases a wild-card spot down the stretch.
| BOSTON RED SOX STARTING LINEUP | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP: Payton Tolle (LHP, #70) • 8-6, 3.08 ERA, 134 K | ||||||||
| August 25, 2026 • loanDepot park, Miami, FL • 6:40 PM EDT • Red Sox at Marlins | ||||||||
| # | Player | Pos | B | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS |
| 1 | Nick Sogard | 3B | S | 2 | 10 | 0 | .283 | .812 |
| 2 | Ceddanne Rafaela | CF | R | 16 | 66 | 17 | .289 | .787 |
| 3 | Wilyer Abreu | RF | L | 22 | 69 | 8 | .256 | .801 |
| 4 | Willson Contreras | 1B | R | 26 | 78 | 3 | .280 | .918 |
| 5 | Mickey Gasper | DH | S | 3 | 17 | 0 | .270 | .771 |
| 6 | Andruw Monasterio | SS | R | 6 | 38 | 4 | .254 | .727 |
| 7 | Jarren Duran | LF | L | 17 | 62 | 18 | .209 | .632 |
| 8 | Anthony Seigler | 2B | S | 3 | 13 | 2 | .254 | .740 |
| 9 | Connor Wong | C | R | 4 | 23 | 3 | .257 | .729 |
| Lineups subject to change. | ||||||||
Rutschman’s Rest Pattern With the Red Sox
Tracy has managed Rutschman’s workload the same way since the team activated him off the injured list on August 11. The plan calls for the catcher to start two straight games, then sit the third, a cycle Boston has followed through most of the catcher’s first month.
Boston used that exact framework in mid-August, resting Rutschman for a series finale in Toronto after he caught in back-to-back games.
“This is a scheduled day off for Adley Rutschman, whom Chad Tracy wanted to play in back-to-back games before sitting on the third day,” Boston Globe reporter Tim Healey wrote.
Tracy previewed this exact plan the day Rutschman was activated, saying the early workload would be a “two-in-a-row type thing” with periodic rest, according to the Boston Globe, before increasing once his legs are fully underneath him.
The same cadence played out again this week. Rutschman started August 21 and August 22, was limited to a pinch-hit at-bat Aug. 23, caught all nine innings in a 4-2 win over the Marlins on Aug. 24 and now sits again for Tuesday’s matchup with Miami.
Wong has caught nearly every game Rutschman has sat since the trade and gives Tracy a steady defensive option while the newcomer’s legs and timing round into form.
| MIAMI MARLINS STARTING LINEUP | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP: Tyler Phillips (RHP, #30) • 3-6, 3.67 ERA, 79 K | ||||||||
| August 25, 2026 • loanDepot park, Miami, FL • 6:40 PM EDT • Red Sox at Marlins | ||||||||
| # | Player | Pos | B | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS |
| 1 | Otto Lopez | SS | R | 9 | 59 | 25 | .307 | .790 |
| 2 | Heriberto Hernández | LF | R | 19 | 53 | 8 | .232 | .767 |
| 3 | Harold Ramírez | DH | R | 2 | 17 | 4 | .237 | .677 |
| 4 | Javier Sanoja | 3B | R | 6 | 50 | 6 | .276 | .734 |
| 5 | Xavier Edwards | 2B | S | 6 | 50 | 19 | .284 | .743 |
| 6 | Leo Jiménez | 1B | R | 2 | 14 | 1 | .211 | .585 |
| 7 | Griffin Conine | RF | L | 14 | 31 | 2 | .261 | .880 |
| 8 | Esteury Ruiz | CF | R | 6 | 11 | 29 | .242 | .795 |
| 9 | Tomás Navarreto | C | R | 1 | 1 | 0 | .129 | .487 |
| Lineups subject to change. Tomás Navarreto .129 AVG reflects an extreme small sample. | ||||||||
Rutschman’s Numbers Since Joining Boston
The Red Sox surrendered catcher Carlos Narváez and a quartet of prospects, including pitching prospects Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon, to pry Rutschman away from Baltimore on August 3. He was still nursing left wrist inflammation at the time and did not make his Boston debut until his August 11 activation.
Adding thump behind the plate was one of top executive Craig Breslow’s priorities ahead of the trade deadline. Boston’s catching tandem of Narváez and Wong combined for just a .219 average with four home runs before the deal, making Rutschman’s switch-hitting power the target of the move.
Rutschman is hitting .146 with one homer and four RBIs across his first dozen games in Boston. His combined 2026 line between Baltimore and Boston sits at .236 with nine home runs and 51 RBIs, well off his .252 career average.
Tracy addressed the slow transition directly last week.
“I think you’ve got to give it time,” Tracy told Boston.com’s Conor Ryan, pointing to the adjustment of a midseason trade, a new market and a pennant race hitting at once. He added that Rutschman has fit in well behind the plate and is already leading the pitching staff.
Nothing in Tracy’s public comments has framed the recent rest days as punitive. The pattern traces directly to the recovery and workload plan Boston set the moment Rutschman was activated, and the interim manager has repeatedly pointed to defense and clubhouse presence as the value driving the trade regardless of the batting average.
With Boston still chasing a wild-card berth and the schedule not letting up, Rutschman figures to be back behind the plate as soon as Wednesday, resuming the two-on, one-off blueprint that has defined his first month with the Red Sox.
Red Sox Announce Adley Rutschman Decision Before Marlins Game