Normally when the Boston Red Sox have lost six straight and seven of their last eight, the Nation would be in a complete uproar. We’d be calling for somebody’s head on the team or wanting general manager Theo Epstein and skipper Terry Francona fired.

But as a Nation we know this is spring training and that the losses don’t matter one tiny bit. The players are getting ready for the season and we can’t expect them to be ready just yet or can we?

We are in the home stretch though of spring training as the season for the Red Sox opens up on April 1st in Texas. So if the Red Sox lose the rest of the way out, there’s no reason to panic.

Plus wouldn’t we want them to get all the losses out of their systems now and go 162-0 this season. Maybe in a perfect world. So settling for 161-1 wouldn’t be so bad.

After a day off on Wednesday, the Red Sox make the trip across the state to take on the Florida Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, FL.

Here are the lineups for today’s game:

Boston Red Sox

Florida Marlins

1. Jacoby Ellsbury
CF 1. Emilio Bonifacio CF
2. Jed Lowrie
SS 2. Omar Infante 2B
3. David Ortiz
DH 3. Hanley Ramirez SS
4. Kevin Youkilis 3B 4. Mike Stanton RF
5. Jarrod Saltalamacchia
C 5. Gaby Sanchez
1B
6. Mike Cameron RF 6. Logan Morrison LF
7. Ryan Kalish LF 7. John Buck C
8. Drew Sutton
1B 8. Donnie Murphy
3B
9. Nate Spears 2B 9. Javier Vazquez P
Clay Buchholz SP Javier Vazquez SP

Also scheduled to pitch for the Red Sox: LHP Andrew Miller, LHP Rich Hill, RHP Scott Atchison.

Also scheduled to pitch for the Marlins: LHP Michael Dunn, RHP Clay Hensley, RHP Leo Nunez.

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Going for Gonzo: Why Red Sox didn’t wait to acquire Adrian Gonzalez [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

Minor progress for Gonzalez [Boston Globe]

Red Sox draft beer server [Boston Herald]

Adrian Gonzalez sharpens swing on ‘day off’ [Boston Herald]

Raining on Sox’ parade [Boston Herald]

Decision time looms for bullpen [Boston Herald]

Red Sox to begin stretching out Miller for Pawtucket (AAA) rotation [Clubhouse Insider]

Albers hasn’t spoken to teams in Japan [Clubhouse Insider]

Reyes gives Red Sox one more day… [Clubhouse Insider]

Francona: Regardless of Red Sox’ payroll, Epstein is ‘really smart’ [Clubhouse Insider]

Francona still unsure on final bullpen spot [CSNNE.com]

Childhood mishap turned Reyes into a lefty [CSNNE.com]

Magadan talks lineup [ESPN Boston]

Ranaudo finding his groove [ESPN Boston]

Francona laughs off Showalter’s Theo jab [ESPN Boston]

For your listening pleasure (hopefully) [Extra Bases]

Seven Red Sox pitchers in minor league games today [Extra Bases]

Pregame news from Jupiter [Extra Bases]

Mike Cameron Playing 10 Years Younger, Jarrod Saltalamacchia a Trusty Heir to Jason Varitek’s Throne [NESN.com]

Terry Francona Fires Back, Defends Theo Epstein in Wake of Buck Showalter Comments [NESN.com]

Starters to take it easy in final week [Projo Sox Blog]

Buchholz learns to pitch without the expectations [Providence Journal]

Josh Beckett talks what went wrong in ’10, and what can go right in ’11 [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSNNEESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal and WEEI websites.