BOSTON — Manager Terry Francona might be thinking long and hard about moving leadoff batter Dustin Pedroia back to second in the lineup.

Pedroia, who went 0-for-4 Saturday night, is batting on the .180s the leadoff position. When he bats second, Pedroia hits .328. He also has 16 extra-base hits batting second in the order.

When asked about Pedroia's stats batting leadoff, Francona said, "I was just looking at that today. It was a surprise to see that."

"I don't think he changes his approach at all," Francona added. "It's not like we were moving this young guy from ninth to first. We moved the MVP from second to first."

Pedroia began batting leadoff in place of Jacoby Ellsbury on May 31. Ellsbury was two games removed from a 22-game hitting streak when he was dropped to seventh in the order at the end of May.

Ellsbury, who entered Saturday's action ranked second in the majors with 29 steals, has not been affected too much by the change. Ellsbury's averaged only dipped from .299 batting leadoff to .294 in the seventh spot.

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The Red Sox gave Mike Lowell a night off Saturday.

Lowell has been struggling at the plate as of late, and Francona said he is a bit fatigued.

"Mike is feeling a little beat up," said Francona. "He might get two days off in a row. We messed around with (that idea) and we'll see how he feels tomorrow."

Lowell is batting .288 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI, but has just two hits in his last 18 at-bats (.111).

"He's a tough guy, though," Francona said of Lowell. "He plays through everything."

Mark Kotsay started in place of Lowell, moving Kevin Youkilis to third base.

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Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (9-3, 4.39 ERA) will face Atlanta's Jair Jurrjens (5-5, 2.89 ERA) in Sunday's series finale.

Wakefield limited the Florida Marlins to two runs in six innings in an 8-2 Boston victory in his last start to win his third game in a row. He leads the American League with 3.50 pitches per batter faced. He also leads the Majors with a run support average of 8.34 (76 runs, 82.0 innings pitched).

He is 3-3 with a 4.64 ERA in six career starts against Atlanta. Jurrjens has never faced the Red Sox. The Braves only average 2.6 runs per game when Jurrjens starts.

roblee@projo.com