BOSTON -- Like the New England weather this spring, the Red Sox offense has been entirely unpredictable in the early part of the season: some nights it's been hot, and others, it's been cold.
Six times this season -- or exactly half the time -- the Red Sox have scored three runs or fewer, including being shutout twice.
On three other occasions, the Red Sox have scored in double figures, including back-to-back efforts in their first home series of the season.
When the Sox had a modest three-game winning streak at the beginning of the current homestand, they scored 31 games in those three games, or an average of slightly more than 10 per game.
In the three games that followed, all losses, they scored a grand total of six runs, for an average of exactly two runs per game.
Up and down, hot and cold.
"In baseball, there's no formula for it,'' said third baseman Kevin Youkilis. "Sometimes, you have the offense and sometimes you don't. We haven't clicked all together right now. We did (against Tampa Bay) and then we didn't the past few games. (Texas) has good pitching, too. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the pitchers.
"We'd love to get 10 hits a night, but that's just not going to happen in baseball.''
No one personifies the unpredictability of the offense better than Youkilis, who was 0-for-4 Tuesday night with four strikeouts before belting a two-run homer -- his first since last August -- in the second inning, giving the Red Sox a quick 2-0 lead.
"It's great for Youk to get us on the board with a blast tonight,'' said Bobby Valentine. "He's going to be a big part of our offense. It's just getting it to go together, you know? Tonight, (Derek) Holland was a pretty good pitcher against us.''