A Power Shortage : Boston’s Big Hitters Are Noticeably Quiet

The Boston Red Sox have won a reprieve. But, as has been the case lately, some of their big hitters remained silent.

The Red Sox escaped elimination Sunday with a 7-6 victory in 11 innings. However, Wade Boggs, Marty Barrett, Bill Buckner and Jim Rice had little to do with it.

Instead, the names were Dave Henderson and Rich Gedman. The top four of the batting order went 4 for 20. That’s been about par for the course.

Of that group, only Barrett has played well during the American League playoffs. After five games, Boggs, Buckner and Rice are hitting .175 with 1 homer and 6 RBIs.

The top of the batting order is supposed to provide most of the firepower Not in this case.

Boggs, the leading hitter in the majors with a .357 average this year, is 5 for 21. That .238 average is far more than 100 points below his average.

Boggs’s role is doubly important because he is the leadoff hitter. But by getting on base only eight times during the series, he’s taking away a vital part of the Boston offense.

Buckner and Rice, in the third and fourth positions in the order, should be the top RBI men, but they are doing worse. Buckner has just 3 hits in 22 at-bats, and Rice is 4 for 22.

Pennants are generally not won in this manner.

Rice might have summed up the futility of that trio when he said of Sunday’s game: “It was a great game until I came up with first and third in the ninth and grounded into a double play.”

To be fair, nobody else on the Red Sox is doing much better. Only Barrett’s .363 average, Gedman’s .350 and Don Baylor’s .333 lead Boggs.

The Boston pitching has been heavily criticized of late, but Manager John McNamara knows the source of the trouble.

“The problem with this series is not pitching,” he said. “We’re not hitting. We’re not getting runners on base. And when we get a runner on third with less than two out, they’re not scoring. Clubs go through these things. There are spells when you’re just not hitting.”

McNamara said he doubted additional batting would help.

“We hit as much as any club in baseball,” he said. “We hit at home, we hit on the road. I don’t think extra hitting would help.”

If not, they better come up with something. Henderson and Gedman can’t carry the load the entire time.