In a pinch, are Sox coming up empty?

Remember that the Red Sox have a philosophy and that it has served them well. As much as any team in baseball, they believe in their way. They are on the verge of a fifth playoff appearance in the last six years, and they won a pair of World Series between the last two Summer Olympics.

But ...

Are these Sox really the same team we have watched over the last six seasons or so?

Trailing the Cleveland Indians by a 4-3 score last night, the Red Sox had runners at second and third with one out in the seventh inning. Righthander Rafael Betancourt was on the mound and Jason Bay was due up. Indians manager Eric Wedge then ordered Betancourt to intentionally walk the righthanded-hitting Bay to pitch to the switch-hitting Jed Lowrie with the bases loaded, a situation that made one wonder when the Sox would pinch hit for their struggling rookie shortstop.

They didn't.

Lowrie struck out.

When Mark Kotsay followed with a flyout to left field, Boston had squandered one of what would be several missed opportunities on a night when frustration was purchased in bulk.

After the game, when asked if he considered hitting for Lowrie at that point, Sox skipper Terry Francona gave a clear, succinct reply.

"No," he said.

Let's back up here to fully explain who the Red Sox are and what they do. This season, excluding those occasions when a designated hitter was involved, the Sox have utilized a pinch hitter 41 times, fewer than any club in baseball. (The National League is obviously an entirely different matter given the frequency with which pinch hitters bat for the pitcher.) Much of that is a reflection on a lineup assembled by a Sox organization that stresses patience in the batter's box, a workmanlike approach, and unwavering plate discipline. The Red Sox have scored more runs than any AL team but the Texas Rangers and rank third in the majors in scoring -- the Chicago Cubs have more in the NL. Their philosophy has indisputably worked for them.

All of this brings us to Lowrie, whose average has dipped more than 50 points, to .260, in the last month. In 71 games (and 170 at-bats) from the left side of the plate this season, Lowrie is now hitting .224; he has 50 strikeouts and 38 hits. Overall, in his last 29 games, Lowrie is batting .190 and has struck out 36 times, a pace that would produce precisely 201 strikeouts over the course of a 162-game schedule. Since Aug. 4, Lowrie has struck out at least once in 35 of the Sox' 43 games; only once has he gone two consecutive games (Sept. 13 and 15) without striking out.

That said, the Red Sox don't particularly care about strikeouts and they really never have. Francona recently was asked about Lowrie's inability to consistently make contact and all but shrugged it off. To the Sox, an out is an out is an out, whether it's a strikeout or a pop to shortstop. Times on base are far more important, no matter how a hitter gets there, and Lowrie has continued to draw walks and maintain his plate discipline even when he has been failing to make contact.

Clearly, the young man has poise.

Still, Francona had Sean Casey on his bench last night when Lowrie came to bat in the seventh, but the manager opted to let Lowrie bat. As much as anything else, consistency is something the manager prides himself on. Francona is extremely prepared and has plans for every game, series, and season, and his approach has served him well during his time in Boston. It is the reason he did not pitch Josh Beckett on three days' rest last postseason. It is the reason he generally has stuck with players like Kevin Millar during their worst struggles. It is the reason he is as in touch with his clubhouse as any manager in the big leagues.

At the same time, Francona is also the manager who replaced Coco Crisp with Jacoby Ellsbury late last October. And he is the same man who bypassed Keith Foulke for a blossoming Jonathan Papelbon early in the 2006 season.

So here the Red Sox are now, with six games to go in their 2008 season, another trip to the postseason a 99.9 percent certainty. Yet the question now is whether these Sox are the same team they have been over the past five years, whether they can win with the same philosophy. Even with Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew in the Boston lineup, Lowrie and Jason Varitek (.201 from the left side) look like easy outs in the late innings. Without Lowell and Drew, the Sox have an alarming number of offensive holes. Injuries are an unfortunate and accepted part of the game, and even the greatest manager in history could not overcome a lineup with too many weaknesses.

Still -- and maybe this is silly -- the Red Sox clearly cannot rely on their lineup the way they used to. The pitching staff (particularly the starting rotation) has to assume more of the burden now. Casey was 2 for 15 as a pinch hitter this year before blooping a single while batting for Jeff Bailey in the eighth, but he still seemed like a better option than Lowrie at the time. Had Casey batted for Lowrie in the seventh and hit into an inning-ending double play, there undoubtedly would be those who wondered why Francona made the move at all.

Do not misunderstand. The loss last night had nothing to do with one decision. The Sox failed to capitalize on a number of opportunities and had some bad luck, too. (Umpire Gerry Davis felt as badly as anyone about the ball that struck him.) The fact that Francona might now have more occasion to pinch hit is ultimately an indication that the Sox lack depth in their lineup, and that is not going to change overnight.

Still, once that happens, isn't it logical to assume that the same philosophy and rules should no longer apply?