David Ortiz holds his leg after being hit by a pitch from Tampa Bay reliever Brian Shouse on Saturday.

AP photo / Steve Nesius

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. –– For much of this season, David Ortiz has avoided the media and opposing pitchers’ best offerings with equal skill. Before Sunday’s series finale with the Rays, the slumping Red Sox slugger ended his silence and openly spoke about his struggles.

Ortiz, 33, hasn’t hit a home run in this season’s first 25 games. He is batting .208 with just 12 RBI. His slugging (.302) and OBP (.298) are down substantially and he’s clearly in one of the longest slumps of his career. Ortiz said that while he feels strong physically, the slump has affected him mentally. He’s been pressing, “trying to get five hits in one at-bat,” and will try to stay patient as the season unfolds.

He also has heard the criticism that’s come his way this season, and he’s not happy about it.

“I’m not happy. Why should I be?” he said. “But I tell you what. One hundred at-bats. ... I’m just going to keep it cool, keep playing the game and not worry about too many things. I don’t want to be listening to all the negativity, all the [expletive] everybody comes up with. Because it seems like it’s never enough. People, all they like to see is people fail so they have a reason to talk [expletive]. That’s why I’m trying to stay away from talking. I don’t need to talk. I need to do things right now. I will do things. Believe me.”

Ortiz added that it seems like players get no grace period in a short-minded baseball town like Boston.

“I’ve been banging since I’ve been here,” he said. “As soon as you slow down a bit, it’s like they’re expecting it. I don’t know why. But I don’t care. Things like that either make you or break you. I’m the kind of guy, I try, I work every day. You guys see what’s up around here.”

Ortiz has taken extra batting practice several times during the current road trip, but he’s headed to New York for two games in the new Yankee Stadium on a 1-for-18 skid and was 4 for 24 (.166) on the trip. He’s driven a few balls deep for long outs, but also been caught lunging at pitches. He has walked six times in the last seven games, showing more needed patience at the plate.

“What I can do in a week I’m not trying to do in one day anymore. I was. I’m not going to lie to you,” he said. “I was trying to get five hits in one at-bat. So right now I’m just taking it slowly. I’m taking a walk. If they don’t give me [pitches] to hit, I won’t swing. If you give me something to hit, I’ll try to hit it. If I don’t hit a homer today, I’ll hit one tomorrow.”

The homer-less skid has baffled a player who has cracked the fourth-most home runs (231) in the majors from 2003-08. He’s gone 110 at-bats without a homer, his worst drought since 2002, when he played for the Twins.

“It gets in your head for a minute, of course,” he said. “You’ve always been a home-run kind of guy, an RBI kind of guy, and you have 100 at-bats and you haven’t hit one out, you’re like, `What the [expletive] am I doing?’

“But at the same time you have to see it this way: It’s not like you’re stepping up to the plate and not trying. You’re trying. Hitting a homer looks easy, but it isn’t. Like I said, I’m just going to be patient, keep on swinging, put in some good at-bats and let things take care of their own.”

Ortiz said he’s heard from friends and family who see him on TV, and they tell him, "Stop trying to get five hits in one at-bat. You can see a guy trying to do too much. It happens. It happens to everybody that plays baseball. Especially a guy who got it done before. When people know that you can bang and you are not, then they start questioning you.”

With the Red Sox facing the Yankees the next two nights, Ortiz will try to take advantage of what has been a hitter’s park in The Bronx thus far this season. He vows to remain patient and insists his power numbers will rise soon.

“They always pitch me so I won’t hurt them. But I will. You can write that down. I will,” he said. “I’ll be back. [Like] Schwarzenegger.”

kmcnamar@projo.com