Just about every other Sox offensive player has scuffled coming out of the batter's box this season, and that has contributed to the 1-3 start the Sox find themselves off to at the beginning of the 2009 baseball season.

The Sox have scored only 13 runs through the first four games, an average of only 3.25 runs per game, and have had trouble generating offense against talented AL hurlers like Matt Garza, Jered Weaver and Scott Kazmir. The Sox averaged 5.21 runs per game last through the full 162-game season and actually averaged more runs per game in the two months after trading Ramirez rather than before.

The Sox remain optimistic that the small four-game sample size is more of a slumping aberration than a potential trend and that an offensive outburst is just around the corner.

"We just need to carry our experience and our ability into the season and we're going to be fine," said DH David Ortiz, one of several hitters still sitting under a .200 batting average after four games.

Obviously, a majority of the Sox hitters won't be slumping for the entire season and things will get better for the Boston lumber-jackers, but the first few games of the new baseball season look like a period of adjustment without their big bopper in the middle of things.

ANGELS 6, RED SOX 3: RHP Tim Wakefield allowed a whopping 11 runners through six innings of adventurous work but managed to minimize damage and allowed only three earned runs. The scuffling Sox offense managed only seven hits for the game, however, and couldn't finish off a comeback after rallying for two runs in the eighth inning. 1B Kevin Youkilis collected his fourth straight multi-hit game for the Sox in the loss.