McAdam: Rare off night for Red Sox offense, which fails to capitalize on chances

Remember when the Red Sox were hitting grand slams at a record pace? Remember when, in the first month of the season, they seemed to be hitting two per week? And all the comparisons to last season, when the Sox went the entire year without hitting a single one?

That seems like a long time ago.

The last grand slam hit by a member of the Red Sox came all the way back on April 30, when Xander Bogaerts hit one against Kansas City in a 10-6 win.

That the Sox have gone almost a month and a half without hitting another isn't terribly surprising. Grand slams are, after all, somewhat random.

But here's what's noteworthy about the Red Sox, in the wake of their 7-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers Thursday night: not only haven't they hit a homer with the bases loaded since the end of April; they've hardly collected a base hit of any kind since that time.

We bring this up because, despite the somewhat lopsided nature of Thursday's setback, the Red Sox had plenty of opportunities to wipe out the 5-0 hole they fell into in the top of the first when Jalen Beeks was cuffed around by the Detroit lineup.

In the second inning, the Sox loaded the bases with one out and had the white-hot Andrew Benintendi due at the plate. It's hard to imagine a better option for the Red Sox, given how Benintendi has been producing, with 10 RBI in the previous 10 games. Benintendi had, in fact, already homered in his first inning.

But an inning later, Benintendi grounded into an inning-ending double play.

In the eighth inning, the Sox once again loaded the bases again against the Detroit bullpen with two singles and a walk. But first Sam Travis struck out, and then Rafael Devers took a called third strike, stranding three baserunners, and their last, best chance had come and gone.

The Sox finished the night an uncharacteristic 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

After those three chances, the Red Sox are now hitless in their last 19 at-bats with the bases loaded, and over the last 15 such scenarios, they've hit into six double plays.

Dating back to the last grand slam from Bogaerts, the Sox have exactly one (1) hit in their last 21 bases-loaded situations.

Some perspective is necessary here. It's impossible to criticize the Red Sox' offensive production through the first 63 games. They lead all of baseball in runs scored, slugging and extra-base hits and are second in doubles, homers and OPS.

Over the previous 12 games before Thursday night, they were averaging a shade under five runs per game, and that included a four-game series against the best pitching staff in either league, the Houston Astros. In the three previous games before Thursday, they had scored no fewer than six runs in each of their previous games, a stretch in which they were without their best overall player, and the player who likely would be the MVP at this point, Mookie Betts.

Even the bottom third of the offense, which had been the team's offensive black hole, has improved considerably in the last two and a half weeks. Thanks to the upsurge by Jackie Bradley Jr. and the two catchers, the lower third of the order had gone from posting an OPS of .543 to .833 in the 18 games before Thursday night.

Not only has that deepened the lineup, but it's also provided run-producing opportunities for the top of the order. When Bradley and Leon and/or Vazquez get on base, there are suddenly baserunners for Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez to deliver.

None of that worked in the Red Sox' favor Thursday night, a game in which the Sox mustered just two runs. In the last month, they've been limited to just two runs on two occasions, with the other time coming last week in the first game against the Astros.

It should help that the Sox will next play six games against the two worst teams in the American League -- Chicago and Baltimore -- who also happen to be 13th and 14th respectively in AL staff ERA.

They'll have their chances, maybe even some with the bases loaded. But the grand slam has dried up as a weapon for now, and the Sox have been hard-pressed for a well-timed single when they have the bases loaded.