BOSTON \u2014 Whatever low expectations there were for the Boston Red Sox offense, through 24 games they\u2019ve been decidedly worse.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the Red Sox were nearly shut out at Fenway Park for the second straight night, escaping that ignominious fate by scratching out a run in the ninth inning of a 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees.<\/p>\n
Wednesday\u2019s lineup was without Roman Anthony, who sat out with a sore back and will be reevaluated Thursday.<\/p>\n
Manager Alex Cora tried to change the lineup \u2014 yet again \u2014 sliding Ceddanne Rafaela up to the leadoff spot and inserting Andruw Monasterio against tough lefty Max Fried.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrying to get something going,\u201d Cora said before the game. \u201cWe haven\u2019t hit. That\u2019s the reality of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t work Wednesday either.<\/p>\n
Cora hasn\u2019t used the same lineup more than four times this season as he\u2019s searched for ways to jump-start a sluggish team that is collectively slumping.<\/p>\n
Part of the problem is that the Red Sox rank second-to-last in baseball in zone swing percentage at 61.9 percent, meaning they\u2019re not swinging at pitches in the heart of the zone.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do damage in the middle, in the heart of the plate,\u201d Cora said. \u201cAnd I think sometimes we take too many pitches there, and we swing at too many pitches on the edges. So we have to flip-flop that and start doing damage and hitting the ball hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked why so many batters in the lineup have been letting hittable pitches pass by, Cora said it\u2019s part of \u201ctheir DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are who you are,\u201d Cora said. \u201cSome people are very passive on 0-0 in the first at-bat; then flip the script in the second at-bat, they become more aggressive. Or they\u2019re patient with nobody on, and then with men in scoring position they solve the at-bat right away. We just have to make sure we swing at the right ones. Whoever you are, if you\u2019re passive or aggressive, swing at the ones you can do damage.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the empty at-bats piled up Wednesday as Fried pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits. The Red Sox went down in order in two separate innings on just eight pitches.<\/p>\n
Their best chance came in the second, down 3-0 after the Yankees attacked Ranger Suarez, snapping his 14-inning scoreless streak, in the first. Monasterio led off with a walk, and Jarren Duran, who\u2019d been 0-for-13 against Fried, smacked a double off the wall. But Caleb Durbin, Connor Wong and Isiah Kiner-Falefa struck out in order to end the inning.<\/p>\n
The Red Sox had one hit in the second, third and fourth, but not another until the ninth when Trevor Story singled and Duran, who had his first three-hit night of the season, drove him in.<\/p>\n