Boston’s Manny Ramirez went from a starter to cheerleader for yesterday’s game.

The Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — How do you like this lineup?

The leadoff hitter, and center fielder, playing just his 49th major-league game. The No. 2 hitter, and second baseman, beginning his second full season in the bigs. Batting third, a DH with an average of .160.

At third base, and batting sixth, a rookie playing only his sixth game. Behind the plate, a backup catcher with a career average, coming into this season, of .167 in 126 games. Batting ninth, and playing left field — in place of guy with 496 career homers (six of them this season, in which he’s batting .338 and already has six game-winning RBI) — a 28-year-old guy with no homers in 58 major-league games.

And, on the mound, a 23-year-old kid making his seventh big-league start.

Just who was it, you may well ask, who put that motley crew on the field? The lowly Washington Nationals? The penny-pinching Florida Marlins? The Kansas City Royals? Perhaps the Pittsburgh Pirates. Or maybe the Texas Rangers, the demoralize denizens of last-place in the American League West?

Nope, nope, nope, nope, and nope.

It was your A.L. East-leading Boston Red Sox.

And the result?

A 5-0 Sox lead after four innings that became 8-0 after five, and a final score of 8-3, as Boston swept a four-game series from the rattled Rangers, who yesterday issued 11 walks — and, for good measure, also threw in a balk and a wild pitch — against a makeshift lineup that more closely resembled one you’d see in a split-squad, spring-training game than the powerhouse nine that won the World Series last season.

Missing yesterday from the Boston lineup that swept Colorado in the Fall Classic were Manny Ramirez, taking a scheduled day off; third baseman, and World Series MVP, Mike Lowell, who’s on the DL with a sprained thumb; and captain and catcher Jason Varitek, sick with the flu.

Normally, with Ramirez idle, Coco Crisp would have been expected to join Jacoby Ellsbury and J.D. Drew in the Boston outfield. But he’s sidelined by a hamstring problem, so it was Joe Thurston playing in left field for the Sox.

No matter.

In a game that displayed either the depth of talent on the Boston bench — or, looked at another way, the utter lack of talent on the Texas roster — the Red Sox rolled over the Rangers the way African runners dominated the Boston Marathon.

It was Marathon Monday, more formally known as Patriots Day, so the Red Sox played yesterday morning at 11.

“When I saw the time printed on the schedule,” said Sean Casey, who is playing his first season in Boston, “I thought it was a typo.”

But, as it turned out, the young Sox combined with the substitute Sox to resemble the ’27 Yankees — minus the power — as everyone except the overmatched Thurston, whose 0-for-5 included a strikeout and three foul outs, reached base at least twice, and Clay Buchholz pitched six scoreless innings while striking out six.

Leadoff hitter Ellsbury, who batted .438 in the World Series last fall, had two hits — raising his average to .277 this season — stole two bases, scored two runs and had an RBI. Jed Lowrie, called up when Lowell was hurt, has started at three positions (second, short, and, yesterday, at third) in his six games with the Sox and is 5-for-15 at the plate.

Second baseman Dustin Pedroia, the 2007 A.L. Rookie of the Year, had two RBI and two hits, raising his average this season to .337 — 20 points above last year.

“I don’t think there’s any, I think the right word is trepidation, about playing these young kids,” Francona said. “They bring some enthusiasm. It’s kind of fun.

“They’ve been prepared very well for when they get here. They know how to act. They know how to play.

“Believe me, we’ll be thrilled when Mikey Lowell comes back. But, in the meantime, having some of these guys do some of the things they’re doing is only going to help us down the road. And it seems to be helping us in the present.”

Helped by a run-scoring double that Texas left fielder Milton Bradley lost in the sun, struggling slugger David Ortiz finished 2-for-4, with RBI, adding a legitimate double in the fifth that brought in two runs.

Winners now of five in a row, and nine of their last 10, the Red Sox have the best record in the American League, despite not having all of their best players in the lineup lately.

“It’s not always perfect,” Francona said. “You get banged up, or sick — things happen. But we played a good game.”

jdonalds@projo.com