The Sox are in last place after 100 games, and hope is dwindling.
Carl Crawford hit his first home run of the season for the Red Sox Friday night.NEW YORK - Prior to Friday night's game against the New York Yankees, Bobby Valentine insisted his team was poised to make a run.
"I don't see us going backwards,'' the Red Sox manager said.
It's hard to tell what he's watching. New York's 10-3 romp at Yankee Stadium was another night of backpedaling for Boston, which is slip-sliding out of the playoff race and into irrelevance.
"We haven't had our big streak yet. That's the good news,'' Valentine said after the game.
Actually, the Red Sox are on a streak - the losing kind. They have dropped six of seven and are 9-16 since June 28.
Home runs by Dustin Pedroia, Carl Crawford and Jarrod Saltalamacchia were not enough against Phil Hughes, who improved to 10-8. It was the first for Crawford and 20th for Salty.
All that power was negated when Russell Martin's two-run homer gave New York a 6-3 lead in the fourth. The topping on the Yankees' sundae came in the eighth, when Curtis Granderson's grand slam turned it into a rout.
It was almost as if the Yankees were gently pushing the Red Sox out the door, then decided a good, healthy shove was better.
This game, though, was mishandled by the Red Sox from the start. The inability of shortstop Mike Aviles to turn a routine double play in the first inning cost Boston three runs.
Rather than end the inning, it allowed Mark Teixeira to reach first as a run scored. Raul Ibanez followed with a two-run homer, and the Red Sox were left to make a futile chase all night.
Because the Red Sox were playing Teixeira in a shift, Aviles went to cover second base from an odd angle. But that was no excuse.
"I think we can turn the double play. We just misfired,'' Valentine said.
It was especially costly for sinkerballer Aaron Cook (2-4), who relies on ground balls.
"He got a couple and we didn't get the double play. The damage came later,'' Valentine said.
Cook took a positive approach to his outing, even though it lasted only four innings and resulted in six runs and seven hits.
"I felt really strong. I was able to throw some curves I hadn't been able to throw,'' he said.
The Sox losing skid began in Seattle when Ichiro Suzuki was still there. In his home debut for the Yankees, the recently traded outfielder went 1-for-4.
Boston's tailspin leaves general manager Ben Cherington in an awkward fix. The last-place Red Sox trail the AL East-leading Yankees by 11 1/2 games, which makes a wild-card playoff spot their only postseason hope.
This year, two wild-card teams from each league make the playoffs. They will open against each other in a one-game first round, which means one team's postseason will end the day it begins.
Even on the increasingly iffy chance the Red Sox can salvage a playoff spot, would trading top minor league talent to rent a veteran be worth the risk of a possible one-and-done postseason stand?
"Our goal is always playoff baseball. You've got to get a ticket to the dance, and then you have to do something once you get to the dance,'' Cherington said before Friday night's game.
That is looking increasingly moot. Only three AL teams have worse records than Boston.
In his positive pregame spin, Valentine counted off better hitting by some players and better health by others as reasons for optimism.
He also praised Aviles for playing outstanding defense. The shortstop's first-inning failure to turn the DP was costly, but calling it decisive would be a stretch.
If the Red Sox were going to walk off the gangplank on this night, at least they didn't waste time doing so. Cook's games usually move quickly, and even though he only pitched four innings, this one was done in 2 hours and 41 minutes.
That's an hour less than your typical Boston-New York grind-a-thon.
After the game, Valentine tried to sound convincing, but it really sounded as if he were trying to convince himself.
"I just believe,'' he said. When it comes to this skidding ballclub, not many others do.