Another day in Boston, another Orioles lineup, another left fielder offered for sacrifice to the Green Monster. And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, Adam Jones is once again absent from the Orioles starting lineup.

It'll be Hyun Soo Kim getting his turn out there in left after Mark Trumbo and Ryan Flaherty suffered under the shadow of the wall in the past two games. Is this any kind of good idea? Red Sox starter Joe Kelly averaged 95.4mph on his fastball last year. Kim has probably not seen many or any fastballs like that and he probably hasn't seen a Green Monster either. Well, good luck to him. He'll need it.

Since Kim's on the roster, they've got to play him some time. Buck Showalter likes to keep his reserves as sharp as he can manage to do. They might think Kim can still show better than he did in spring training with some playing time and they might be right. A base hit that leaves the infield would be a nice start.

As for the rest:

1. Joey Rickard - CF

2. Manny Machado - 3B

3. Chris Davis - 1B

4. Mark Trumbo - RF

5. J.J. Hardy - SS

6. Pedro Alvarez - DH

7. Jonathan Schoop - 2B

8. Caleb Joseph - C

9. Hyun Soo Kim - LF

That's with Ubaldo Jimenez getting the ball for the O's.

Jones last started one week ago, in the Orioles second game of the season. It's now the eighth game of the season, though he has been sighted twice in the last two games, as a late-inning defensive replacement. How is this team undefeated again?

Speaking of unlikely scenarios for a thus-far undefeated team, Hardy as a #5 hitter. What? Well, yes, he did hit two homers last night, raising his slugging percentage to .650, but come on, they were cheap Pesky Pole homers at Fenway. Let's not kid ourselves here. A lineup with Hardy batting fifth isn't a good lineup. But maybe they will overcome these apparent difficulties and win themselves another game. Stranger things have happened.