A lot can change in a year.
In August 2018, the Boston Red Sox were atop the American League and on their way to completing a four-game sweep against the New York Yankees.
Fast forward to August 2019, Boston is fighting for a wild card spot and sitting 14 1/2 games back of the Yankees for first place in the AL East and seven behind the Tampa Bay Rays and were just swept by New York in four games.
Boston looked destined to have another strong season after winning the World Series to complete a historic 2018 campaign but now are in the midst of its worst slump this year after suffering its eighth straight loss and falling to New York 7-4 on Sunday night at Yankee Stadium.
The defeat marked the 55th time the Red Sox have suffered a loss in 2019, one more game than the team dropped in all of 2018.
But manager Alex Cora believes, despite the slump, his team still has time to turn things around.
“Overall a horrible week,” he said, per the Eagle Tribune’s Chris Mason. “… There’s no doubt in my mind these guys can turn it around.”
While many probably didn’t expect another 108-win season, they certainly didn’t expect the possibility of not reaching the postseason, especially considering most of the championship roster returned this year.
Here are some other notes from Sunday’s Red Sox-Yankees game:
— The Red Sox starters have a whopping 10.70 ERA in Boston’s last 10 games.
Both David Price and Chris Sale got knocked around by the Yankees and combined to throw just 6 1/3 innings and gave up 15 earned runs on 18 hits. Good for a sky-high 21.23 ERA.
Price, meanwhile, has a 9.61 ERA at Yankee Stadium since joining the Red Sox.
— Michael Chavis hit his 18th home run of the season in the fifth when he and Christian Vazquez went back-to-back.
The 18 round-trippers are the most by a Red Sox rookie since Andrew Benintendi hit 20 in 2017. Before that, it was Brian Daubach, who hit 21 home runs back in 1999.
— Xander Bogaerts, who’s been a bright spot for the Red Sox this season, went 0-for-15 in the four-game series.
— Mookie Betts made a great catch in the eighth to rob DJ LeMahieu of extra bases.
— Ryan Weber was Boston’s best pitcher Sunday night, tossing four scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
— The Red Sox finished 1-8 at Yankee Stadium this year.
— It had been just over four years since Boston suffered a four-game sweep.
The Los Angeles Angels beat the Red Sox in four games back on July 20, 2015.
