During and after Saturday's 4-3 loss, there was evidence, however, that the strain is there.
One instance took place in the bottom of the fifth inning. Tampa Bay held a 4-2 lead, but with two outs, Jacoby Ellsbury reached on an infield hit. He then stole second base and sat there with a chance to halve the deficit if Dustin Pedroia could find a way to get a hit.
But Ellsbury inexplicably took off for third before Jeff Niemann went into his motion. Niemann caught the speedster racing toward third and easily nailed him with a step off and a toss to Evan Longoria. The inning was over, the bat was ripped out of Pedroia's hands (figuratively speaking, of course) and the Rays maintained a two-run lead.
"He's trying to, in that situation, trying to do too much," said manager Terry Francona of Ellsbury's dash. "It wasn't necessary. His intentions are good. It was ill-advised. If you're going to run in that situation, it has to be 100 percent. I think he knows that.”
Given that the Sox eventually lost by one run, the base-running blunder loomed even larger.
Another indication of the team trying to do too much may be more of an overarching issue at the plate. Facing a Tampa Bay staff that has dominated Boston's normally potent lineup, some hitters are reaching outside their comfort zone, hoping for that big hit that can turn this long slump around.
"We're going after pitches out of the zone," said first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who was 0-for-2 with two strikeouts Saturday. "We could've walked 20 times a game if we wanted to. We're being overaggressive."
That goes against the Red Sox way. They are a team built on patience, power and outlasting the opposing pitcher. Against the Rays, it hasn't been like that all season. The result is now being manifested in some unwarranted risks.
