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.<\/p>\n
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 \u2013 and especially one that began with their first four-game sweep of the New York Yankees at Fenway since August 2018 \u2013 to dropping back-to-back games in frustrating fashions<\/a> understandably left a bitter taste in their mouths.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat start,\u201d said catcher Connor Wong after Wednesday\u2019s 10-2 loss<\/a>, which handed the Washington Nationals a 2-1 series victory. \u201cNot the finish we wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe played great ball against the Yankees, and then lost this series,\u201d Wong added. \u201cI don\u2019t feel like the at-bats were terrible. Wasn\u2019t great, wasn\u2019t awful. Just kind of, \u2018Lost a Series\u2019 baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n There have been too many of those. The Red Sox are 9-17-2 in series play, including 3-10-1 at home.<\/p>\n \u201cReally good homestand, could have been a great homestand,\u201d interim manager Chad Tracy said postgame. \u201cYou\u2019re going into today feeling (like), \u2018Let\u2019s make this a great homestand. But you don\u2019t get on the plane feeling like 5-2 is bad. We\u2019re in a much better position than we were when we got back home.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019re in last place in the AL East and 13 and 1\/2 games out of first.<\/p>\n