McAdam: For Red Sox, odd weekend can't end fast enough

Seldom has a series between the Red Sox and Yankees meant so little to both teams.

Doubtless, when the 2018 schedule was released last year, some people in the Major League Baseball office were congratulating themselves for setting up what would surely be a dramatic confrontation between the two long-time rivals.

They probably envisioned the division title at stake, with both teams intent on finishing first so as to avoid the pitfalls of the dreaded wild-card game.

What suspense! What intrigue!

What a crock.

Instead, we have two teams already locked into their pole positions -- Red Sox first, with home field secured throughout the postseason; the Yankees in second, with their lone goal of being home for the wild-card game achieved Friday night.

It's like watching these teams playing in Tampa or Fort Myers in the final week of spring training, with only a roster spot or two left undecided.

Sure, there are a handful of personal and team statistical landmarks on the line. The Yankees, for instance, set an MLB record for most home runs in a season by a team Saturday. But this weekend had promised so much more.

So we get to watch starting pitchers lifted after 35 or so pitches, a steady parade of relievers trotting in from the bullpen every inning and mass substitutions, turning a nationally-televised contest into Senior Night.

All the trapping are there: college students from New York and New Jersey rooting for the Yankees; the Fox crew here Saturday and TBS due Sunday; and cooler weather, a reminder that the postseason is nearly here.

But in actuality, this has all the intensity of White Sox-Royals, playing out the string, with the suitcases packed and buses running.

"I think,'' offered Brock Holt after the Yankees had pounded the Sox, 8-5, "we're ready for big games to start mattering again. You play 162 games and you get to the point where we clinched the division and now, whether we win or lose doesn't matter. It's' kind of got that spring training vibe again.

"We're ready for the lights to come on and for October baseball to start. I think everyone in here is ready to start playing those games that matter.''

In the meantime, the Red Sox are not exactly sprinting toward the tape. Their loss Saturday was their third straight and seventh in the last 11.

If momentum in the final week mean anything when the playoffs start, the Red Sox are in trouble. But, assured Alex Cora, it doesn't ... and they're not.

"If we win eight out of 10, people will say it doesn't count,'' said Cora. "If we lose seven out of 10, people might say it counts. It really doesn't count. We're going to be 0-and-0 next week. We're still going to have four days off (after Sunday's regular-season finale); we don't have to play (in the wild-card game) Wednesday.

"It really doesn't matter. Just take a look the whole season -- it's 107 (wins) and that's very good. It's not that we're going through the motions, but we're taking care of our players and they'll get what they need and we'll be ready for October.''

It's hard to argue with Cora's main point. If 107 wins don't qualify as a great season, would 108 or 109? Is winning the division by "only'' six games - the margin should the Yankees get the sweep Sunday -- going to lessen what the Red Sox had accomplished for the first five and a half months?

But there's another factor at play here. Call it what you want -- momentum, confidence ... could the Sox suffer by stumbling down the stretch, then being idle for four days while awaiting the winner of the Yankees-A's wild-card game?

In each of the last seasons, the Sox played poorly in final 10 days or so, and never seemed to find themselves when the Division Series got underway. They got swept by Cleveland in 2016 and lost in four to Houston a year ago.

And yes, the vibe is a different one this season. Cora seems to have a stronger sense of the clubhouse vibe, of when the push and when to ease up somewhat. But the similarities are a bit troubling.

There's a definite sense of "let's-get-this-over-with'' surrounding the Sox, and perhaps that's to be expected. They've passed every test put in front of them during the year and secured first place in early July, then made sure they didn't let it go.

And, now this.

"It's kind of weird, honestly,'' chuckled Cora of the weekend. "We're playing to win games, but at the end, we know we're playing (next) Friday and we're going to be 0-0.''

In the meantime, the Sox scramble to hit the reset button.