I just heard Orsillo say the Sox have not had an extra base hit in the equivalent of four straight games. Is that a record? I understand the randomness of such a feat, but I think it underscores just how feeble the offense has been lately.

Well, the record (since 1956) belongs to none other than the Yankees, who went 6 games without an XBH in 1967. Amazingly, they logged 43 singles over that span (more than 7 per game). But they still only batted at a .197 clip. Two other teams (1964 Angels, 1985 Pirates) had streaks of 5 games.

The full list is here. Again, these are full games without an XBH, so the Sox aren't in the group of teams with 4-game futility streaks. They are, however, among dozens of teams with 3-game streaks.

I was actually going to start a separate thread on the offense -- and not just to bitch about how inept it's been, since that's pretty self-evident.

But I'd like to discuss what managers, hitting coaches, and players can to do to get out of ruts like this. Do you switch around the lineup? Bench certain guys? Replace the chicken cordon bleu in the postgame spread with smoked salmon? Do you bring in an army of psychologists and counselors? Or do you simply ride out the storm, exercising patience, encouragement, and positive reinforcement -- which I assume is the style of Tito & Co.?

How do you keep hitters from being overly aggressive in such a stretch? How do you prevent them from lapsing into negative nuances in their swings and stances that develop into bad habits?