David Ortiz has been having a hard time at the plate lately. The Red Sox’ designated hitter looks to rediscover his stroke in the Labor Day series finale against the Chicago White Sox.
In the first three games of the series, Ortiz has gone 1-for-10 with four strikeouts and no walks. A single in the opening game is his only hit.
Ortiz has a good chance to snap out of his funk against Mark Buehrle (11-7, 3.81), who gets the call for the White Sox. Left-handers are batting .295 off Buehrle this season, and Ortiz is hitting .354 lifetime against him. Buehrle pitched the first perfect game of this season in July (the first perfect game in the majors since Randy Johnson accomplished the feat with the Diamondbacks in 2004) but has posted no wins and one loss in the last month.
Ortiz's batting splits (.226 against righties and .220 against lefties) do not show much difference in his performance against righties and lefties this season, but he will look to get his timing down against Buehrle.
Despite Ortiz's lackluster performance, the Red Sox have expanded their wild-card lead over the Rangers to three games.
After Monday's game, the Red Sox return to Boston for an eight-game homestand.
