"Swing the bats better," Dustin Pedroia said, after the Sox didn't in a 5-3 loss to the Blue Jays in front of 35,484. "I think we got three hits today, or whatever it was [four].
"We need to find a way to score runs, because we're not winning many games. We need to start. It's not early anymore. We've played 50 games. So we need to start doing things offensively."
True, and obvious.
"The one thing I think when you are struggling is - when you get two-out hits it can mask a couple days where everybody's sort of swinging the bat [just] OK," manager Terry Francona said. "[Friday] night we had hits. When we hit into a double play or we don't get a two-out hit, that makes a four- or five-day span a little more glaring."
The Sox have not been able to convert lately, especially since Francona switched the lineup. Before the change, the Sox scored six and won against the Twins without David Ortiz. After that, with Ortiz in the sixth spot, the Sox have lost four of five and have scored just 13 runs. They have made stars of average pitchers, from Nick Blackburn and Kevin Slowey to Casey Janssen and, yesterday, Brian Tallet.
While Penny was doing his usual - three runs (two earned) over six innings - the Sox bats didn't do much. Two walks in the first left a chance for Mike Lowell, and he hit a two-out RBI single. Two more runs came in in the second, on a two-run homer that began a day of oddities for Rocco Baldelli, but the Sox were stymied after that. (Baldelli left after slamming his left knee into the wall in right field in the fifth inning trying to make a catch. X-rays were negative.)
There was another oddity once Penny left the game, too. Ramon Ramirez, who has been outstanding, struggled for the first time with the Sox. He had allowed just two earned runs this season, but he matched that yesterday. With the game tied at 3-3 in the seventh, he allowed three hits and intentionally walked a batter before exiting.
