Luke Raley (flu) remains out of Mariners’ lineup

Thomas missed the final three weeks of the regular season and the Wild Card series with an intercostal strain, making this his first start since Sept. 7. Ha-Seong Kim sits to make room. The lineup: C Drake Baldwin, RF Ronald Acuña Jr., 1B Matt Olson, 2B Ozzie Albies, CF Michael Harris II, SS Mauricio Dubón, DH Sean Murphy, 3B Austin Riley, LF Thomas.

This is a little surprising, since Muncy would probably face Kerr just the once, but they’ll go with Miguel Rojas initially. That’s the lone change from Saturday, which was also against a lefty opener in Dylan Dodd. The lineup: SS Mookie Betts, DH Shohei Ohtani, C Will Smith, 1B Freddie Freeman, LF Teoscar Hernández, RF Kyle Tucker, CF Andy Pages, 3B Rojas, 2B Tommy Edman.

There’s nothing wrong with Salas, Padres’ skipper Craig Stammen simply had a change of heart and wanted to use Sheets instead. Sheets will step right into Salas’ spot in the lineup, batting sixth and serving as the club’s designated hitter.

Kerr did an exceptional job in that role in a must-win situation in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against the Phillies, allowing just one hit and one walk over 3 1/3 scoreless innings. The expectation is that once again Grant Holmes will follow him in a bulk role, though that has not been confirmed yet.

Judge continues to work his way back from a calf strain that has shelved him since September 16. While he wasn’t ready for the start of the ALDS, there’s growing optimism that he could be ready to go for the ALCS should the Yankees advance past the Rays.

Venable also noted that Sean Burke will work behind Kay in a bulk role. Kay threw 22 pitches over 1 1/3 innings out of the bullpen in Game 1, so he shouldn’t be expected to work more than an inning or two before giving way to Burke on Monday.

That had been the expectation all along with Robbie Ray and Michael King working in the first two games, but it’s now official. Depending on the outcome of Sunday’s game, it’s possible that Pivetta could be pitching for the Padres’ postseason life when he takes the mound against the Brewers on Tuesday evening in San Diego.

Murphy noted that aside from his postseason experience and his success against the Padres this season, the Brewers specifically “brought him in to do that”. He’ll start opposite of Padres’ right-hander Nick Pivetta when the series shifts to San Diego on Tuesday evening.

Frelick and Hamilton sat in favor of Luis Lara and Joey Ortiz with a left-hander on the mound for the Padres in Game 1 on Saturday, but they’ll jump into the lineup against right-hander Michael King. The Brewers have also shuffled up the order of their lineup. Here’s the full lineup: Jackson Chourio (LF), Brice Turang (2B), Jake Bauers (1B), William Contreras (C), Garrett Mitchell (CF), Christian Yelich (DH), Frelick (RF), Cooper Pratt (SS) and Hamilton (3B).

The Padres are rolling with the same starting nine that they did in Game 1, the only change is that Salas and Xander Bogaerts have swapped lineup spots and Luis Campusano will do the catching with Salas serving as the DH. Here’s how they’ll line up against Brewers’ right-hander Logan Henderson on Sunday: Fernando Tatis Jr. (RF), Dustin Harris (LF), Manny Machado (3B), Ty France (1B), Jackson Merrill (CF), Salas (DH), Xander Bogaerts (SS), Luis Campusano (C) and Jake Cronenworth (2B).