Even the best hitters have off days, and David Ortiz is no exception.
Despite his struggles this season, Ortiz has been coming around at the plate lately, but he had no answer for the Royals Cy Young candidate Zack Greinke on Tuesday night. The Red Sox’ designated hitter went hitless in three at-bats with a walk, striking out once and leaving two runners on base.
But the slugger wasn’t alone in his frustration. Greinke held the Red Sox to two hits and struck out five in six scoreless innings to improve to 15-8 with a minuscule 2.08 ERA.
The only Red Sox hits off Greinke — a first-inning double from Dustin Pedroia and sixth-inning single from Victor Martinez — amounted to nothing as the right-hander frustrated hitters all evening. Ortiz was just one of Greinke's strikeout victims, along with Kevin Youkilis (twice), Alex Gonzalez and Jason Bay.
The Red Sox finally broke through in the eighth inning when Jacoby Ellsbury scored on a Victor Martinez groundout, but it was too late, and Boston fell 5-1, losing to Kansas City for the second straight night.
The Red Sox look to their ace to get back on track Wednesday night as Josh Beckett (15-6) faces off against Luke Hochevar (7-10).
