A 5-2 record typically rates as a successful seven-game homestand. But in the case of the Boston Red Sox this week, not so much.

They posted such a record in their final two series at Fenway Park before the upcoming All-Star break, their best homestand of the season by a wide margin. Yet going from a season-high five-game win streak – and especially one that began with their first four-game sweep of the New York Yankees at Fenway since August 2018 – to dropping back-to-back games in frustrating fashions understandably left a bitter taste in their mouths.

“Great start,” said catcher Connor Wong after Wednesday’s 10-2 loss, which handed the Washington Nationals a 2-1 series victory. “Not the finish we wanted.”

“We played great ball against the Yankees, and then lost this series,” Wong added. “I don’t feel like the at-bats were terrible. Wasn’t great, wasn’t awful. Just kind of, ‘Lost a Series’ baseball.”

There have been too many of those. The Red Sox are 9-17-2 in series play, including 3-10-1 at home.

“Really good homestand, could have been a great homestand,” interim manager Chad Tracy said postgame. “You’re going into today feeling (like), ‘Let’s make this a great homestand. But you don’t get on the plane feeling like 5-2 is bad. We’re in a much better position than we were when we got back home.”

Are they? The Red Sox are 37-48 on the season, significantly worse than their expected win-loss record of 42-43, and are one of the four American League teams yet to reach 40 wins. They’re in last place in the AL East and 13 and 1/2 games out of first.

They own a 17-27 record at home, and already this season matched some depressing metrics where their performance at Fenway is concerned. The Red Sox are 8-36 when they fail to score more than four runs and 12-34 when opponents score first. They are 4-39 when trailing after the sixth inning, 1-40 when down past the seventh and 0-43 if still behind through eight.

“You look at it from seven games, and you’re pleased about it,” said left-hander Payton Tolle, who exited his Wednesday start after facing four batters in the top of the fourth. “The last two obviously sting, but you got to look at it and go into the next series like, ‘OK, how can we get this one, how can we win today?’ … I think the winning formula, we’ve seen it now.”

The Red Sox are 20-21 on the road, though, so they could gain ground on this three-city trip to Anaheim, Chicago (White Sox) and New York (Mets). Though they are also likely staring down the barrel of a multi-game suspension for Willson Contreras, by far one of their most productive hitters.

If there’s a formula that can save the season, the Red Sox are fast running out of time to deploy it.