Red Sox Notes: Boston Faces Unfortunate Reality Of Struggles

The Boston Red Sox reached a point they had not been at since the middle of June.

As referenced by MLB.com's Ian Browne, Boston's 8-3 loss on Tuesday to the Tampa Bay Rays dropped the ballclub below the .500 mark for the first time since June 11 at 75-76.

The Red Sox are 22-33 since the All-Star break and fell victim once again to a pitching staff that's gotten hit hard throughout the second half of the season after a promising opening three months. Boston now falls out of the reality of a playoff race and the greater danger of dropping in the American League East standings.

"We've got three ways," Cora told reporters, per NESN's postgame coverage. "Be average, below average or above average. Right now, we're below average. Like I've been saying all along, it's not lack of effort. It's just not happening for us right now."

"It's not ideal," Pivetta told reporters, per NESN's postgame coverage. "I think the most important thing is we just move on to the next game. Move on to the next day and flush this. Try to get back into positive baseball."

Boston needs to find momentum to encourage the young core that once provided momentum for the Red Sox at various points of the season. The Red Sox have 11 games remaining to do that and set up a consequential offseason with some positives.

"Not what I envisioned for us coming into the last couple weeks of September," Casas told reporters, per NESN's postgame coverage. "Still a lot of game left. Still a lot of positives to try to reach."

Here are more notes from Tuesday's Red Sox-Rays game:

-- Nick Pivetta snapped a personal streak of three consecutive outings of at least six innings and two earned runs allowed or less for the Red Sox.

-- Boston fell to 21-23 against American League East opponents in 2024.

-- The Red Sox fell to 5-10 in September and 13-29 in the month dating back to last season.

-- Casas homered for the first time since Aug. 25 in a year when he previously missed 98 games with a rib injury suffered in April.

-- The Rays now trail the Red Sox by just one game for third place in the American League East.

-- The Red Sox and Rays continue the three-game series at Tropicana Field on Tuesday night. First pitch is set for 6:50 p.m. ET. You can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.