The Red Sox managed a 16-11 record in June, but the absence of David Ortiz might be starting to hurt their run-producing capabilities.
Strong pitching from Tampa Bay starters James Shields and Matt Garza stifled Boston's short-handed offense over the last two nights, and Rays ace Scott Kazmir is on tap for Wednesday night's series finale. On Tuesday night, the 3-4-5 trio of J.D. Drew, Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell took on 0-fer and flubbed a handful of opportunities to thrust Boston back into the game. The Sox went 15-8 in their first three-plus weeks without Ortiz in the lineup and consistently used blazing speed and Drew's hot hitting to carry them through a potentially trying time. But as things are beginning to settle in for the Sox, it's becoming more apparent how much they need Ortiz.
Ortiz is expected to be out through the All-Star break, so the Sox will have to continue battling and hope they don't run into aces every night. He should be ready for some rehab appearances right around mid-July.
The Sox are prepared for life without Ortiz if there's some kind of setback during his rehab work on his left wrist.
"When we get to the All-Star break, it's hard to know exactly, but that's probably where he's going to start feeling like he can play," manager Terry Francona said. "When we get toward that break, maybe we can start to turn him loose a little bit. Then again, maybe he won't be ready."
RAYS 3, RED SOX 1: A J.D. Drew sacrifice fly scored Jacoby Ellsbury in the fourth inning and amounted to all of Boston's offense in its fifth straight loss at Tropicana Field this season. RHP Tim Wakefield put together another excellent start in the Tampa Bay dome and allowed only two runs in seven innings, but the lack of support dropped him to 5-6 on the season.
