Road work is ahead

Jacoby Ellsbury and the Sox hit a wall in Oakland, the latest example of their road deficiencies. (Greg Trott/Getty Images)

SEATTLE - The consensus among baseball people is that Red Sox are the best team, but until they put together more road victories like last night's 5-3 win over the Mariners and one of the game's top pitchers (Felix Hernandez), they will be hard-pressed to prove it.

The win made the Sox 11-17 away from Fenway this season and ended a seven-game losing streak on the road. The Sox have been swept in Toronto, Tampa, Baltimore, and Oakland so far, and Minnesota beat them three out of four.

They have given opposing teams hope.

After the Oakland series this weekend, A's manager Bob Geren was saying that if his team can beat the Red Sox, they can beat anyone. This isn't the first time a good team has been great at home and lousy away, but the Sox know better than anyone, after two championships, that you have to be reasonably decent on the road.

What you hear from Jason Varitek is, "We'll figure it out."

Maybe this series against the hapless Mariners is a great time to figure it out. If this is the beginning of a smoother time away from Fenway, then the Sox could finally begin to separate themselves from the rest of the pack, just as many baseball personnel figure they will.

John McLaren's Mariners are now 18-34 and have blown leads in 14 of their 34 losses. They are 7-20 on the road. Team president Chuck Armstrong recently gave McLaren and general manager Bill Bavasi a vote of confidence. So when putting this Red Sox road thing in perspective, Larry Lucchino won't be needing to give Theo Epstein or Terry Francona a vote of confidence any time soon.

The Sox have run up against decent pitching. In those 17 road losses, opposing starters had 10 quality starts, and only three times in those 17 games did the Sox score more than four runs against a starting pitcher. They've been shut down by Justin Duchscherer, James Shields, Edwin Jackson, Rich Harden, Livan Hernandez, Shaun Marcum, and Daniel Cabrera. Roy Halladay has beaten them, allowing four runs in eight innings.

As far as I can tell, it's been mostly an unspoken subject in the clubhouse. But everyone on the Sox knows the situation.

"We definitely have to play better on the road," said Mike Lowell. "I know that at Fenway it's awfully hard for teams to come in and play there, but we have to level things off when we hit the road.

"I don't think we're pressing. I don't think we're doing anything differently. I don't think we think about it consciously.

"I wish I could put my finger on it. I wish we all could."

The home-vs.-road numbers are mind-boggling. With the aid of the Maniacal One, Chuck Waseleski, we learn that they hit .303 at home, .273 on the road (which, by the way is the best road average in the American League). They have a .383 on-base percentage at home, .335 on the road. They're slugging .474 at home, .430 on the road.

Individuals: Jacoby Ellsbury, .361 home, .207 road; Julio Lugo, .329 home, .257 road; David Ortiz, .295 home, .206 road; Dustin Pedroia, .318 home, .265 road; Varitek, .339 home, .237 road; Kevin Youkilis, .326 home, .287 road.

With runners in scoring position, the Sox are hitting .302 at home, .255 on the road. These individual RISP numbers are really telling: Crisp, .313 home, .111 road; Ellsbury, .333 home, .273 road; Lowell, .231 home, .176 road; Lugo, .261 home, .095 road; Ortiz, .483 home, .241 road; Pedroia, .333 home, .276 road; Varitek, .231 home, .174 road.

The pitching is also skewed, with the Sox posting a 3.50 home ERA and a 4.92 road ERA. Starters are 16-2 with a 3.22 ERA, averaging 6 2/3 innings at Fenway, but 7-11 with a 5.00 ERA, and 5.67 innings away. Relievers are 5-3 with a 4.13 ERA, 10 saves in 14 chances at home, but 3-6, a 4.77 ERA, and 6 saves in 11 chances on the road.

Jonathan Papelbon has converted all nine of his save opportunities at home but is 5 for 7 on the road. He has a 0.63 ERA at home but a 5.68 ERA on the road.

The numbers are always going to be better at home, particularly at Fenway, which provides one of the biggest home-field advantages in sports. But if there's nothing consciously going on, then what gives?

Manager Terry Francona alluded to the fact that some of the pitching matchups on the road haven't lined up in Boston's favor, but he's not about to change the order of the rotation to address that. Last night, for example, Boston's No. 5 starter, Bartolo Colon, was lined against Seattle's No. 1, Hernandez.

Are the Sox hitting teams at the wrong time? Are teams getting up for the world champions? Both legitimate points.

After Oakland's Duchscherer and Huston Street one-hit the Sox Saturday night, Duchscherer spoke as if he had beaten Murderers' Row. He felt he had beaten the best team, the best lineup.

Beating the Sox created major excitement from the Twins, Orioles, and Blue Jays. Their players seemed a little more revved up on those nights. In some of those places, the home team seems surrounded often times by Boston fans.

The mission is to render them silent. And when they do, it's a huge confidence lift.

The Sox know this every time they come into a city.

"I understand we're going to get their best," said Francona.

Bottom line?

"We are a good team," said Lowell. "There's too much talent in here for this to continue.

"I think we approach everything the same way all the time, and this isn't a team where if you lose three or four in a row that we're going to get down about that. We can overcome that.

"We just have to overcome whatever it is. Like I said, I wish I could or that we could put a finger on it. But there's no way to explain it. But we'll get better."

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com