Clutch hit proves elusive for Sox in ALDS

BOSTON — Part of David Ortiz’s legacy will be remembered as his ballclub’s ability to be one swing away from the big hit it needed. But those crucial knocks never materialized in the American League Division Series, which is why the Red Sox will soon be cleaning out their Fenway Park lockers.

The most potent offense in the Major Leagues was limited to just seven runs by the Indians, who completed a three-game sweep with a 4-3 victory on Monday night.

Xander Bogaerts notched Boston’s first two hits of the evening, but it was a scorched eighth-inning lineout that left him wondering, “What if?”

“We all wanted to go further, especially for David, but we just didn’t make it happen,” Bogaerts said. “That line drive I hit at the end, if it was somewhere else, it’s a base hit and would have been a different situation. I would definitely trade any hits I got this year for that one to go through.”

That came as Bogaerts batted with two men on and two out against closer Cody Allen, the Sox threatening after Hanley Ramirez punched an RBI single into left field to trim Cleveland’s lead to one run. According to Statcast™, the expected batting average on that contact was .673, but the ball landed in second baseman Jason Kipnis’ glove.

There was plenty of frustration to go around in a series where the Red Sox batted just .214, with Cleveland hurlers combining to log a 2.33 ERA with 31 strikeouts against just eight walks over the 27 …

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