Poor start tough to stomach

MOOSIC, Pa. -- When Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson took a foul ball to the gut during the ninth inning of Wednesday's 10-inning loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, it said a lot about the way the PawSox' season has gone this season. Between a nine-run comeback by Buffalo last Saturday and the short-lived ninth-inning comeback by Pawtucket Wednesday, it seems nothing can reverse the team's struggles.

"We've played massive amounts of these games," Johnson said Wednesday, with ice wrapped around his midsection. "We're getting closer.

"It gives you ups and downs. We have downs now. We're [10-21]. It's bad. We can look at it two ways -- we're either going to get really good and strong out of this or it will separate the weak. I know what my choice is."

Though the PawSox' starting pitching has been promising -- Devern Hansack has already been called up -- their offense has betrayed them, leading to six straight losses and 11 of their last 13, though a rain out of last night's series finale with Scranton earned them a rest. It's the team's worst start since opening 5-25 in 1989.

After Tuesday night's 3-1 loss, reporters were asked to leave the clubhouse while Johnson called the team together for some impassioned words.

"Three solid games where we've played good defense, we've had good pitching, we're just having a tough time getting over the hump offensively," he said. "We need to start exchanging punches. That's an area we're really scuffling in lately."

Johnson shared his first impressions of Jacoby Ellsbury, the center fielder who was promoted May 4 after hitting .452 in 17 games with Portland: "Kid's got some skills. Yes he does. He's got some intangibles. Like he can turn that light off, can be outside before it gets dark . . . It's fun to watch him on the baseball field. He's going to make some mistakes here and there. We have to make sure he gets that opportunity to develop and be here as a first-year Triple A kid and that's the way we want to approach it . . . But watching his skills, yeah, it's very apparent why he was drafted so high." Ellsbury, the Red Sox' first-round draft pick in 2005, has cooled in Pawtucket, hitting .280 (7 for 25) but with a .379 on-base percentage from the leadoff spot . . . David Murphy is hitting .378 this month (14 for 37) to raise his average to a team-best .313 . . . Righthander Bryce Cox, who has struggled with his command in Portland, blew the save Wednesday night but still picked up the win when the Sea Dogs rallied past Trenton, 4-3, at Hadlock Field for a four-game sweep. Portland has won five straight overall and nine of their last 11 at home . . . Knuckleballer Charlie Zink was promoted to Pawtucket yesterday after going 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in four starts with Portland. The PawSox also sent Kansas City Royals cast-off Runelvys Hernandez to Single A Lowell while the big righthander rehabs a strained right hamstring . . . Righthander Michael Bowden hasn't given up an earned run in his last two starts with Single A Lancaster, lowering his ERA is 1.62 over seven starts.

Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com.