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In a season that has been full of disasters, pathetic performances, and general horribleness, I thought it was beyond the Red Sox to really find that next level.
They did. I would hesitate to say they went from bad to worse, because bad doesn't really accurately describe the starting point. But for where they are now, there's only one word: shameful.
The Red Sox scored eight runs in the first three innings. Pablo Sandoval, Mookie Betts, and Dustin Pedroia all homered. The game was basically over. All the Red Sox had to do was play out the last six innings, more of a formality at that point than anything else. Fangraphs had them at over 97.5% to win the game after Pedroia's homer, and they topped out at 98.4% an inning later.
But the Jays scored three off Joe Kelly in the top of the fifth, and then...then came the seventh. I'd go through the motions of typing it all out, but if you really want to subject yourself to this train wreck of an inning, well, I'll defer to the tape, because I just can't!
Bad teams lose games. Bad teams lose games after taking the lead. Bad teams lose games that most other teams would win. But it feels like when the Red Sox go bad, they go the extra mile. And tonight, they really outdid themselves. Even if you're somehow of the opinion that 27-35 and seven games down in the AL East isn't enough to consider them out of the running, after seeing a performance like this, it's had to imagine even the most optimistic of Red Sox fans holding on hope.
This team is bad and broken and probably not deserving of our attention after this game and, frankly, so many others. This isn't a statement made in anger, mind you. Boston's terrible performances are not vindictive. They're probably not even about the players lacking motivation or interest or work. It's just bad begetting bad begetting worse. The snowball is rolling down the mountain, gathering steam, and not likely to stop anytime soon.
At this point, the best news might be that there's a 162 game limit on the season. With just 100 to go.