Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury is out with a shoulder injury, and left fielder Carl Crawford is still recovering from wrist surgery. Darnell McDonald, Jason Repko and Cody Ross formed the starting outfield Wednesday against the Texas left-hander Derek Holland. Their combined batting average is .178.

“We just have to figure out a way to be consistent,” said Ross, a former San Francisco Giant. “It’s tough for our pitchers when we’re scoring 14, 15 runs, and then we’ll get shut out and maybe score one run the next couple of nights. But that has a lot to do with the pitching, too. They’re throwing out some really good pitchers.”

Fair enough; in the Rays’ James Shields and the Rangers’ Colby Lewis and Derek Holland, the Red Sox have faced strong pitchers this week. They will face the Yankees’ Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia and C. C. Sabathia this weekend, with Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard lined up for Boston.

Doubront and Bard have more strikeouts than innings, but neither would be in the rotation if the Red Sox were at full strength. John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka are on the disabled list with elbow injuries, consuming more than $25 million of the payroll.

For all the expectations that come from their recent success, these Red Sox just might not be very good. Boston reached the playoffs in six of seven seasons through 2009, but finished third in the A.L. East in each of the last two. The current team was no match for the Rangers, who remain the league’s strongest.

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Despite their own uneven start, the Yankees offer another test. The sight of their uniform — the 1912 model or the 2012 version — sends a different sort of buzz throughout Fenway.

“Whatever it is, I hope it’s good for us,” Valentine said. “I believe it will be.”

Valentine has been more subdued since questioning Youkilis’s effort in a television interview Sunday, a slight for which he apologized. Normally candid, he now seems inhibited, if not by the Youkilis fallout, then by the stiffness of the setting. The formality of the interview room, the standard place here for pre- and postgame manager briefings, makes Valentine seem caged and reduced to platitudes.