Silent Sox slip into second

“We’ve got to hit,’’ said Ortiz, stating the obvious. “It happens. It’s not always going to be roses and flowers. We go through this every year. We’re going to be to the point that we’re going to get out of it.’’

“I think we’ve hit our worst spot of the year, as a group, with swinging the bat,’’ Jason Varitek said. “You run into those spots. You have to continue to go out there and play the game and try and turn that around.’’

Through five post-All-Star break games, the Sox have scored 12 runs, including a pair in last night’s 4-2 loss to the Rangers. That won’t win games, nor does it engender positive vibes from a rotation that is forced into Herculean feats just to produce victories. Like Josh Beckett last night, whose four runs allowed in eight innings was far too much for the barren Sox offense.

The Sox could not overcome a two-run deficit in the first inning, something that would have been laughable earlier in the season, and finished the night in second place in the American League East. Handcuffed by another youngster, this time Tommy Hunter, the Sox lost their season-high fourth straight.

So as the averages continue to dip - only Dustin Pedroia (.301) and Kevin Youkilis (.303) remain above .300 - so too does their record, coinciding with a surge by the Yankees, leaving the Sox out of first place for the first time since June 8.

And though Beckett said, “This one definitely falls on me,’’ calling it “demoralizing’’ to have given up those runs in the first, it was difficult to absolve the offense.

“Tonight, I thought we had some at-bats where we were trying to do too much,’’ hitting coach Dave Magadan said. “When you hit as many fly balls as we hit in this game - some of those fly balls were driven, I thought J.D. had a couple really good at-bats, and hit the ball hard his first three at-bats - but for the most part I think when your team is trying to do too much at the plate, you end up hitting a lot of lazy fly balls and get a little impatient.