Sox' unimpressive offense providing unfortunate pattern

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BOSTON -- No offense?

None taken.

Stop me if you've heard this one: The Red Sox pitched well, certainly well enough to win. But they barely hit at all.

They managed six hits, but the only real hard-hit win didn't come until the ninth inning when David Ortiz laced a double to left-center. Naturally, he remained anchored there for the rest of the inning, until Brock Holt passively took a called third strike.

On Wednesday, they could assure themselves that they were on the verge of busting out, given the balls they smoked directly at Texas defenders. But that theory didn't hold up Thursday.

On Thursday, there were bad at-bats, little life shown and a feeling that they had to start all over again.

New night, same result.

Rinse, lather, repeat.

If it weren't so stupifyingly familiar, it would be funny. Hey, did you hear the one about the team that couldn't hit the opposition, but found a way to hit themselves?

Yup, that happened, too. In the fifth inning, the Sox put a hit-and-run on with Xander Bogaerts, on base with a one-out walk, heading for second. He arrived just in time to be struck on the cleat with a hard groundball off the bat of Daniel Nava.

Naturally, Bogaerts was called out for having hit by the batted ball. So, instead of runners at the corners and one out, the Sox had a runner at first with two down.

"I mean, the field is so big...,'' said Bogaerts about the improbability of what took place. "What are the chances of the ball hitting me. Are you kidding me?''

No joke, Xander. Of all the places for Nava to hit the ball. But that's how it's going for the Red Sox, or more to the point, how it isn't going.

For the eighth straight time, a Red Sox starting pitcher -- in this case, Clay Buchholz -- limited the other team to two earned runs or fewer. By now, of course, it should be obvious that guarantees nothing. In fact, in those eight games, the Sox are 3-5.

More? In the last 20 games, the Red Sox have scored more than four runs three whole times.

"We've got to start hitting at some point, right?'' asked David Ortiz. In theory, yes. This was supposed to be a fearsome offense, capable of being among the most potent in either league. And it still might. But for now, it's scaring no one but their own pitchers.

It's widely assumed that Rusney Castillo will be promoted from Pawtucket any moment now -- almost certainly before the Sox embark on a seven-game road trip Sunday night, and, who knows, maybe in time for Friday night's series opener with the Angels.

But the danger is that Castillo will be expected to lift a sinking lineup. Similar to the rotation problem that plagued the Sox earlier this season, even the addition of Cole Hamels wasn't going to improved the pitching of the other four starters taking regular turns.

It's the same with the offense now.

"It's not like there's one spot in the lineup that's a glaring hole,'' said manager John Farrell. "We've got to get the players we're counting on rolling." Farrell hinted that he may shuffle the order for Friday. But even if he were to go full-on Billy Martin and pick the order randomly out of a hat, the same players will comprise the lineup.

Maybe a re-org will produce better results. Or maybe it's akin to re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Farrell is right in this regard: if Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez and Mike Napoli and Pablo Sandoval (expected back at third Friday) don't start hitting, no mere shuffling will improve things.

"We've got to start hitting at some point, right?'' Ortiz wondered.

Depends.

Is that supposed to be re-assuring? Or is that doubt creeping in, uncertainty settling over an offense that was supposed to be much, much better than this.

Rinse, later, repat.

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