Momentum has yet to swing Ortiz's way

A paper cut-out of himself clung to a column in front of David Ortiz's locker, towering over his small corner of the Red Sox clubhouse the way Ortiz once lorded over the postseason. Below the cut-out hung an advertisement for a poster company. It read, "Put Up Or Shut Up."

Ortiz chose the latter yesterday. Dubbed "The Greatest Clutch Hitter in Red Sox History," Ortiz has vanished in the American League Championship Series, which the Red Sox now trail, two games to one. He went 0 for 4 in the Red Sox' 9-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, and is 0 for 10 for the series.

Ortiz told a club spokesman he had nothing to say about it. The paper Ortiz smiled at an empty locker, leaving teammates to offer their opinions on what may be wrong with their No. 3 hitter, the player who helped deliver two World Series trophies and a mountain of late-inning memories.

"They're pitching him tough," Mark Kotsay said. "They're pitching him backwards. They haven't given him anything to hit, really. Sometimes, as a guy who likes to carry this team, you start expanding. I don't think I've seen him expand. They know that he's a major part of this offense, and they're trying to keep him off-balance."

The Rays have fed Ortiz off-speed pitches and breaking balls early in the count, then fastballs out of the zone they hope he'll chase. Ortiz accepted being pitched around earlier in the series. He took one walk in Game 1 and drew three in Game 2. He entered yesterday's game hitless in eight at-bats, but he had found ways to contribute.

He is now 0 for his last 12, and yesterday Ortiz did not reach base in a game for the first time this postseason. He struck out looking in his first at-bat on a fastball he deemed too far outside. The only time Ortiz got the ball out of the infield came in the fifth, when he flied to shallow center. He popped to the right side of the infield in the third, and he grounded to first in the eighth.

Ortiz has not been mired in a postseason slump like this since the first three playoff games he played for the Red Sox, when he began the 2003 AL Division Series 0 for 13.

"I've been around David long enough to know that can change with one swing of the bat, and that's part of having guys like David," manager Terry Francona said. "The other team still has to respect that even when they're not swinging like they're capable."

Both teams have a reverence for Ortiz, well-deserved given his playoff résumé. With the Red Sox, Ortiz was hitting .325 and slugging .625 in the postseason with 11 home runs and 38 RBIs in 160 at-bats entering these playoffs. This year, he is batting .148 with one double, one RBI, and no home runs.

"I got nothing for you on that," Jason Bay said. "I'm not going to speculate on what David is doing. He's one of the best postseason hitters. He'll get another chance tomorrow. That's all I've got to say about that.

"I'm really reluctant to put it on one guy. [Dustin Pedroia] wasn't hitting early on and we still were winning games."

Ortiz's missing impact is obvious.

"It's the middle of the lineup," Kotsay said. "When those guys hit, usually clubs score a lot of runs."

The Red Sox still insist an Ortiz surge, while welcome, is not necessary.

"He's a big man, a big asset," Paul Byrd said. "We'd love to see him crush the ball, put some big ones up there. But I don't think that we are totally dependent on David Ortiz."

This postseason has been undeniably difficult for Ortiz. He no longer has Manny Ramírez batting behind him. He missed 55 games with a wrist injury, which continued to plague him long after he had his cast removed.

By his final at-bat, it was clear Ortiz was a husk of his typical playoff self. He grounded down the first base line, a ball that never threatened to become a hit before Carlos Peña smothered it. Ortiz jogged toward first, clutching the barrel of his black bat. He held it until he reached the dugout, walked down the steps, and, one last time, disappeared.