BOSTON – As the Red Sox walked off the field after the 6-4 loss to the lowly Orioles Wednesday night, ?On the Road Again? played over the Fenway Park PA system. You know the lyrics – I can?t wait to get on the road again.After dropping three of four to the Orioles – owners of the second-worst record in the American League and third-worst overall – there is no doubt the Sox were happy to leave their abysmal 10-game homestand behind. Their 3-7 record, with a .300 winning percentage, was their worst homestand of six or more games since going 1-5 (.167) from Aug. 31 – Sept, 6, 2001.With their latest loss they fell to 5-16 (.238) in September, their worst showing in the month since they went 11-17 (.393) in 1993.?I don?t remember, to be honest with you, going through a month (like this) after playing well,” David Ortiz said. “That?s the craziest thing about it. We were playing good. We had a tough April at the beginning. Put it together. Everything was going great until we came into September. We are all confused right now because we?it?s not happening. Things are not going our way. It?s frustrating when things are going like that because we?re trying.?If you don?t see guys trying to make things happen, you have a reason. But I?m one of the guys on the bench watching everything and everyone?s trying to make things happen to be honest with you.”?Over this stretch there?s been a combo of we didn?t hit well when we pitched well, we didn?t pitch well when we hit well,” said Jason Varitek. “But we?re better and we?re still in a spot where we can control how we play and what we do and if we just focus on how we play, then good things will happen.”That has yet to happen. The September nose dive has been attributable to a horrible brand of baseball. Poor starting pitching. Sloppy defense. Lack of timely hitting. They?ve dug holes for themselves in far too many games, and there is plenty of blame to go around.In eight of their last nine games, 12 of 14, 17 of 21 games in September and 19 of 23 since Aug. 30 the Sox have allowed their opponents to score first. In the 17 games this month in which their opponents have gotten on the scoreboard before them, the Sox have come back to win just three. But scoring first has not guaranteed wins for the Sox this month, either. In the four games they scored first, the Sox are just 2-2.Starting pitchers have posted a combined ERA of 6.82 this month, while throwing just three quality starts, the last by Josh Beckett on Sept. 16 against the Rays. Starting pitchers, who have averaged less than five innings per start, are 4-10 with seven no-decisions this month. Even Josh Beckett, who had been their most reliable and stable starter for most of the season, spit the bit against the bottom-dwelling O?s on Wednesday. He went 7 1/3 innings n the longest outing by a starter since Tim Wakefield went eight against the Mariners on Aug. 14 n but allowed a season-high six earned runs.But the pitching isn?t only to blame. The Sox have won just one game this month when they?ve scored fewer than 12 runs, beating the Rays 4-3 on Sept. 16. The other four wins: 12-7 against the Rangers on Sept. 3; 14-0, Blue Jays, Sept. 6; 18-6, Blue Jays, Sept. 13; and 18-9, Orioles, Sept. 19.With runners in scoring position this month, the Sox have hit .291. Take out the four wins scoring a dozen or more runs, though, and that mark falls to .207.Shoddy defense has also hurt. Josh Reddick?s third-inning error Tuesday night on Vladimir Guerrero?s fly ball to right field led to three runs, contributed to an early exit by starter Erik Bedard (as well as a 51-pitch third inning, recording just two outs), and is just one example of the 23 errors they?ve committed this month.The Sox entered September leading the Yankees by a 1-1/2 games, with the best record in the AL. Since then, the Sox have lost nine games in the standings, dropping to second place in the AL East, hoping for a play-off spot.?That?s a sign of a (bad) team,” said Dustin Pedroia