McAdam: For Red Sox in final week, playing hard is all that's left

The Red Sox are a frustrated bunch these days -- or at least you hope they are.

Fresh off a 108-win season and World Series victory, they were supposed to be contenders, supposed to return the postseason, supposed to be getting a chance to defend their title.

As it turned out, none of those things happened. The starting rotation massively underperformed, then went down in a heap in the second half. The bullpen, overworked in the early going, took until the second half to begin locking down leads.

And so, the Red Sox limp to the finish line, having been officially eliminated late Friday night, but in reality, out of playoff contention for some time now.

The final two series of the season will see them squaring off against two other teams without anything to play for -- first Texas on the road, then Baltimore at home.

And if you think the last month or so has been uninteresting, just wait until those series get underway. They'll closely resemble spring training games, with one key difference: in spring training, the best (presumably, at least) is still to come. There are expectations then, and in theory, your team still has a chance to surprise.

There will be no surprises in the final two series. In fact, there won't be a lot of interesting players. Anyone battling even a hint of physical issues will likely play sparingly, so don't expect the likes of Andrew Benintendi (thumb), Mookie Betts (foot) or J.D. Martinez (groin) to be lineup staples.

The same goes for younger pitchers who have already pitched more innings and deeper into the calendar year. That means Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor are close to being shut down for the remainder of this hugely disappointing season.



But for another game, the Red Sox get to make life miserable for a team that still has a chance to play in October. The Tampa Bay Rays are still fighting for the final wild card spot, and that presents the Red Sox with a chance to drag another team down to their level.

Misery loves company, and all that.

In the first two games, the Red Sox fought. On Friday night, they tied the game in the ninth and forced extra innings. On Saturday night, they tied it in the eighth to force extra innings, and then briefly took the lead in the top of the 11th.

That they ultimately lost both games is almost secondary. Whether the Red Sox finish with say, 84 or 86 wins won't matter a whit.

But they can at least hold their heads high when they leave St. Petersburg for Arlington, Tx. late Monday night. They can at least begin the truly insignificant portion of their schedule, knowing that they didn't roll over, or appear that they were more consumed by meeting their offseason tee times than they were in playing with some effort down the stretch.

There are times in recent weeks when, especially in "bullpen games,'' the Sox have been unwatchable. One reliever follows another in a steady march to the mound, giving the appearance of not just spring training games, but split-squad bullpen games.

But this weekend at Tropicana Field, there's at least been some context. Only the Rays are playing for something, but at least the Red Sox are providing competition, maintaining a slight bit of their dignity by playing hard, and as Alex Cora noted Friday night, "fighting.''

In fact, this series serves as a tribute to Cora. He noted the importance of these games before the series started -- not just for the Rays, but the Cleveland Indians and Oakland A's, too -- and said the Sox would treat them with respect.

And they have. Extra-inning loss Friday. Extra-inning loss Saturday. A win on Sunday.

There's one more game of consequence remaining. After that, it gets murky.

This wasn't how the Red Sox season was supposed to play out. This certainly wasn't how it was supposed to wind down.

And pro athletes shouldn't be congratulated for exhibiting effort and treating the games with respect.

Still, the Sox have shown up and done all of that. Not since 2015 have the Sox been playing games without consequence in September, but at least they're playing them with conviction.

It's cold comfort for fans who are rightfully unhappy with how things have reached this point. But it beats the alternative.