It's hit or (mostly) miss once again
CLEVELAND - You'll be pleased to learn that Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, and Manny Ramírez made history last night. They became the first trio to hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in a League Championship Series.
Whoopee.
Too bad the game was all but over by then.
The threesome's staccato barrage in the sixth inning was most likely an explosion of anger, frustration, and disbelief. Of all the scenarios the baseball gods could have conjured to thwart the Red Sox' hopes of advancing to the World Series, the idea that the lineup would be unable to generate sufficient offense against pitchers like Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd was hard to fathom.
But it happened. Before Youkilis stepped into the box and launched his homer, his Sox had been outscored by the stunning margin of 18-2 from the 11th inning of Game 2 to the sixth inning of last night's 7-3 loss, which leaves Boston down, 3-1, in this American League Championship Series and on the brink of elimination.
Give the Cleveland Indians their due. Just as Westbrook had done one night before, Byrd threw strikes and did not shy away from the vaunted Red Sox lineup. He kept them off the scoreboard for five innings, then gave way to a bullpen that, after a blip by Jensen Lewis (he gave up the dinger to Ramírez after Byrd was taken deep by Youkilis and Ortiz), did what it has done throughout this series: shut the Sox down.
Byrd gave up just two runs, the solo shots by Youkilis and Ortiz. Both came after he sat in the dugout for 35 minutes while his teammates posted seven runs in the bottom of the fifth, forcing Red Sox pitchers to throw 48 pitches.
"My goal going in was to move the ball in and out of the plate," Byrd said. "I think sometimes these guys can scare people and shy away from throwing the ball in, thinking they're going to hit another home run.
"I didn't expect to strike anybody out. I was hoping to jam some people. I had a good fastball. I hit 90 miles per hour, which happens a few times a year. I high-fived a couple of guys in the dugout and said, 'Hey, pick me up here, I just hit 90.' "
The Cleveland pitcher had a right to be buoyant. He's 2-0 in the postseason, and he gave his club exactly what it needed.
Conversely, for the third straight game, the Red Sox starting pitcher could not scratch his way out of the fifth inning. This time it was Tim Wakefield who left the mound after 4 2/3, down, 3-0, with two runners aboard. His relief, Manny Delcarmen, was anything but that. He fell behind, 2 and 1, to Jhonny Peralta, then served up a three-run shot that blew the game open.
So now what? It's time for manager Terry Francona to shake up the lineup. It's time to ask center fielder Coco Crisp, who was 0 for 4 with a strikeout last night and is hitting an anemic .188 in this series, to take a seat and let rookie Jacoby Ellsbury try to light a spark under this team. Someone has to give the Sox some new life. Maybe the rookie can oblige.
It is also time to move Dustin Pedroia (3 for 16), a front-runner for Rookie of the Year, down in the order. Pedroia has been in a hitting funk since the postseason began. He could benefit from being removed from the leadoff spot, where the pressure to kick the team into gear is huge.
There's no question the kid is pressing.
He has plenty of company.
The contrast in the clubhouses before this game was striking. The young, freewheeling Indians were relaxed, animated, and glib. The Red Sox were quiet, strained, even a bit tense. And that was before they lost.
"We are a bunch of guys who [expletive] hate to lose," explained Ortiz before the first pitch.
Ortiz cranked his 11th career postseason home run, but there is no question he is hurting. When the torn meniscus in his right knee starts to really hamper him, Big Papi tends to stand upright, which negates much of the strength he derives from his legs. When he came to bat in the eighth, he was standing almost completely straight up at the plate. The result: a fly ball to shallow left. In the aftermath of yet another chilling loss, Ortiz dressed quickly and said, "I'll talk to you guys tomorrow."
There isn't a whole lot left to say. Boston has to find a way to score runs sooner rather than later. The bottom of the order has been disastrous, with J.D. Drew (4 for 15, no RBIs) , Crisp (3 for 16, no RBIs), and Julio Lugo (0 for 3 last night, 2 for 14 in the series) unable to produce anything of signficance. The only player in the bottom of the order who has knocked in a run is Jason Varitek, and he's 3 for 15.
Ramírez and Ortiz always find a way to hit the ball, but as Big Papi has said on many occasions throughout this season, they cannot and should not have to do it alone.
"I thought we had hit some good balls," mused Pedroia, "but we've got nothing to show for it. It's kind of slipping away from us . . . but we're still alive. We're still playing."
It is tempting, naturally, to declare that this series is over. To do so would be foolish, simply because Josh Beckett will take the mound tomorrow night, and if he pitches like Cy Young yet again, then the Red Sox will come home with two chances to turn it around at Fenway.
But Beckett will not be batting. Someone else has to step up and be willing to take care of that.
Jackie MacMullan is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at macmullan@globe.com. 