Struggling in Beantown

In the last few years, when you think of Red Sox hitters in October, you think of David Ortiz launching longballs into the night, Dave Roberts swiping second base, or Mike Lowell doing his best Mike Schmidt impression. They’ve brought fearsome offenses into the playoffs and made opposing pitchers pay.

Unless something changes in the next few days, the images of Red Sox hitters going forward might be more along the lines of hapless flailing and weak dribblers. For instance:

The great clutch god, David Ortiz, 2008 postseason:

4 for 27, 1 double, 0 home runs, .148/.324/.185

The up and coming star, Jacoby Ellsbury, 2008 postseason:

6 for 32, 3 doubles, 0 home runs, .188/.229/.281

The captain, Jason Varitek, 2008 postseason:

3 for 27, 0 doubles, 0 home runs, .125/.192/.125

The new hero, Mike Lowell, 2008 postseason:

0 for 9, 0 doubles, 0 home runs, .000/.111/.000

That quartet is 13 for 92, a .141 average, and they’ve yet to hit the ball over the wall. It’s hard to score runs when this much of your offense is struggling, and these struggles are the main reason why the Rays are two wins away from the World Series.

The Red Sox need to get some thump from some of their thumpers, or their season is going to come to a close in a hurry.