Totally Offensive

The Boston Red Sox offense is on quite a run of ineptitude of late. Since a three run “outburst” in the second inning of game one of the three game series in Tampa Bay, the Red Sox have scored five runs in the past fifty-four innings.
This stretch of five games having scored two runs or fewer is bordering on historic proportions for the Red Sox franchise. Only one previous time, a six game stretch in July of 1978, have the Red Sox scored two runs or fewer in more consecutive games.
They have scored two runs or fewer in five consecutive games eleven times including this current stretch. Most recently, this occurred during the disastrous downfall that befell the 2001 team in late August and early September as they fell precipitously out of the race.
Ironically enough, the Red Sox 2-3 record over the last five games has been matched by two of the previous ten streaks of such inept offensive display. In both 1973 and 1976, the Red Sox also went 2-3 while not scoring more than two runs in any of those five games.
Over the last forty-five innings (not including the nine innings at the end of the 11 inning loss in Tampa), the Red Sox are a remarkable 23 of 150 at the plate with a measly four extra base hits. That .153 average is only better than three other teams mired in such inability to perform at the plate.
Coming into last night’s game they were slugging .198 and with only one double from Mike Lowell last night, that number only declined. Their on base percentage, thanks to six walks from Blue Jays pitching, actually rose after last night’s shutout loss from .209 to .226.
With the same Tampa Bay Rays that started this offensive offensive display coming to town, the prospects of the Red Sox bats suddenly awakening over the weekend against Edwin Jackson, James Shields, and Scott Kazmir are not encouraging. While Kazmir will be making his first start of the season coming off of injury, he has had success at Fenway Park where he has a career 2.73 ERA in nine starts.
Looking up and down the lineup there are some precipitous drops in batting average:

• Dustin Pedroia: .340 —> .293 (-.47 points)
• Kevin Youkilis: .330 —> .295 (-.35)
• Manny Ramirez: .370 —> .336 (-.34)
• Jed Lowrie: .357 —> .294 (-.63)

At least David Ortiz has found a way to raise his average a little over this time period from .177 to .196 (+.19). Without his lead off walk and single in the ninth innings of the two wins, this team may be staring a eight game losing streak in the face.
This Red Sox team is clearly too good offensively to keep collectively down as long as they have been. One of the benefits of a deep offensive lineup is that very rarely do all members go into such slumps at the same time.
For the Red Sox to have escaped this stretch with a few wins is money in the bank. Unless they start depositing some balls over the green walls of Fenway Park and banking a few more runs, the Red Sox can’t hope to win too many more on the strength of their starting pitching alone.