Projo Sox Blog

BY JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Red Sox' offense is officially kaput.

As in wrecked. Dysfunctional. Nonexistent.

On a night when starter Josh Beckett pitched well enough for a chance to win (8 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts), Boston produced only five hits as it dropped its fourth straight game, losing to the Rangers, 4-2.

"They're busting their [butts]," Beckett said of his teammates. "This loss is mine. I lost it in the first inning. You can't go out there and give up two runs with two outs in the first inning."

The Sox' ace was clearly trying to take the negative attention off his offense, but that's impossible at this point.

In the five games since the club returned from the All-Star break, the Red Sox have scored only 12 runs on 31 hits. They're 1-4 in those five games, and have gone from three games ahead of the Yankees to one game behind.

It's clear the Sox are pressing at the plate. The majority of the players in the starting lineup took extra batting practice early Tuesday afternoon, but it didn't translate into the game.

"We haven't been swinging the bats well," said captain Jason Varitek. "The good thing is, hopefully those [good] days are in front of us. We really can't swing the bats any worse. . . I think we've hit our worst spot of the year as a group swinging the bat. You run into those spots where you have to continue to go out there and play the game and hopefully turn it around."

Here's the breakdown:

-- Jacoby Ellsbury, who missed two games in Toronto because of the flu, is 1-for-12.

-- Dustin Pedroia is 5-for-18.

-- Kevin Youkilis is 7-for-19.

-- David Ortiz is 5-for-19.

-- Jason Bay is 2-for-16 (though with four walks).

-- J.D. Drew is 0-for-18.

-- Mike Lowell is 6-for-14.

-- Varitek is 1-for-13.

-- Jed Lowrie is 2-for-10.

-- Nick Green is 0-for-7.

After Tuesday's game, most of the Sox players didn't have too much to say about the offensive implosion. Drew, who has batted in the leadoff spot during the Blue Jays series, and sixth during this series against the Ranger, got up from his chair at his locker and said: "I don't have much to say tonight, guys. I'll catch up with you tomorrow."

Ortiz was also a man of few words.

"I don't have anything to say. We didn't score runs and everybody knows it," he said. "We have to hit."

He took a breath and continued.

"It happens, man," he said. "It's not always going to be roses and flowers. We go through this every year. There's going to be a point when we get out of it -- we just have to keep on playing."

The Sox' slugger attempted to give the Sox a boost in the second inning, but he was a little too aggressive and it cost him. After leading off with a single to right, he tried to stretch it into a double but was thrown out by a couple of steps.

Even manager Terry Francona is noticing a difference with the team's approach.

"Like David, that's just trying too hard when he went to second. I appreciate it, but that's what we want to guard against," he said. "You certainly always want to hustle and work hard, but I don't want us to start doing things and get out of our game. It's not for the lack of effort, just guys trying too hard."

Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan believes the offense is creating opportunities, but the lack of timely hitting has been the problem.

"We haven't gotten that big hit," said Magadan. "It's going to take that one big hit that gets us rolling to take some of the pressure off the offense . . . I think tonight was the first night I [players pressing at the plate]. We hit a lot of fly balls and were trying to do too much at the plate . . . It's the little things that grow to be big things when you're going through a period like this. We have a lot of confidence in the guys. It's going to happen sooner rather than later."

 Tags  Dave Magadan Dustin Pedroia J.D. Drew Jason Varitek Terry Francona

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