HOUSTON — From the start -- literally, the first three games of the season -- the Red Sox kept you guessing, confounding you at every turn.
They were often far better than you expected them to be, maybe even far better than they had any right to be.
But there were also moments in which, just when you started to believe, they regressed and under-performed.
Then, they would rebound -- from a confounding dip in July and early August, and later, from a COVID outbreak. Every time you thought you were out, they dragged you back in.
So, in its own way, the sad, quiet end to the 2021 season, which came Friday night, was perfectly fitting.
The Red Sox spent the first three games of the series launching balls all over and out of both Minute Maid and Fenway Park, amassing 25 runs and seemingly able to score at will. They had 10 hits in each of the first three games and became the first team in history to hit three grand slams in the same postseason series. In fact, they hit three in the span of 11 innings.
But then, without warning, the Red Sox offense dried up, the spigot turned off.
The last three games looked -- and sounded like -- a countdown to the end.
Two ... One ... Zero.
Turns out, that wasn't just the soundtrack to their disappearance from the postseason, their exit from the ALCS, but also, the number of runs they managed in the last three games.
The same team that had pounded the Astros for 21 runs in the course of Games 2 and 3 could do no better than one measly run in their final 26 innings. Even in their swan song, they hung in longer than perhaps they should have. It was somehow still a game, and thus, still a series after seven innings, with the Sox hanging tough, trailing 2-0.
But that big blow that they seemed to summon at their command earlier in the series was suddenly nowhere to be found. And a three-run homer by Kyle Tucker in the eighth clinched a 5-0 win for the Astros and sent the Sox home two wins shy of a return to their second World Series in the last four seasons.
"They made adjustments,'' shrugged Alex Cora. "They did. Their catcher (Martin Maldonado), he's really good. He did it last year. He's done it in previous years. He gets out of his script and that's something that's very impressive. They pitch to (form), but he gets out of the script when he feels he has to. I think it was halfway through Game 4, I felt they were changing (their attack plan) and they used the fastballs in different spots, especially their righties. And we weren't able to catch up with his fastball.
"I do believe that halfway through that game, we weren't able to catch up with the fastball and that's why we didn't score runs. It's not for lack of effort. We were trying to catch up to the fastball and there some counts that were good for us. But we just didn't do it. You know, you've got to tip your hat to them.''
You think runs were tough to come by? For the second straight game, the Red Sox were held to without a hit through the first four innings. On Friday, in Game 6, they didn't get a hit until Kike Hernandez slammed a triple to left-center. Naturally, he was stranded there.
Without the benefit of a hit, the Red Sox also put a runner on third in the very first inning when Kyle Schwarber reached on a wild pitch/strikeout, moved to second on a groundout and took third on a deep flyout to center. But, he, too, withered on base. And for the longest time Friday, that sequence constituted the Red Sox' best rally. Which speaks volumes.
The bats, meanwhile, were barely audible.
"For the most part,'' acknowledged Xander Bogaerts, "our offense was pretty quiet.''
Not even a heroic escape job by starter Nathan Eovaldi could motivate them.
With the season hanging in the balance, Eovaldi allowed a leadoff single to Alex Bregman and a double to Sox-killer Yordan Alvarez to start the fourth. Already trailing by a run, the Sox brought their infield in, afraid that a 2-0 edge for the Astros would prove insurmountable. Eovaldi never even allowed contact, fanning Carlos Correa and Tucker. After an intentional walk to Yuli Gurriel to load the bases, Eovaldi overpowered Chas McCormick.
"After getting out of that big jam, we kind of got amped up,'' said Bogaerts. "(The hitters figured), 'Hey, it's kind of on us now, for the offense to wake up a little bit and put some runs on the board.''
Instead, the Sox went down 1-2-3 with a lineout and two strikeouts.
In the aftermath of the elimination, the Sox were left to stare at the wreckage. It was difficult to believe.
"I mean ... we were rolling, one through nine,'' said Bogaerts, reflecting on the early part of the series. "Guys were just on fire. We had guys having historic stretches -- Kiké (Hernandez), J.D. (Martinez) coming back from that injury in Tampa, (Rafael) Devers, (Kyle) Schwarber....It just felt like one through nine. Everyone was just kind of locked in and everything went south from there.
"I wish I had answers.''
There will be the winter to reflect in search of those.
But in the here and now, this downturn was, in some ways, perfectly in keeping with the team's roller-coaster ride. The same team that couldn't beat the Orioles once in the first series then swept the defending A.L. champs immediately after. Up, down, forward, back.
When you thought you had them figured out, they would surprise you.
It's why the team that sat comfortably in first place for much of the first four months found itself needing to win the final game of the season just to guarantee a wild card spot.
It's why the team the only 100-win team in the American League couldn't pull the same upset against a team that won only three more games than the Sox themselves did.
And ultimately, it's why the same team that almost tired itself out rounding the bases last weekend couldn't average more than a run per game for the final three games of its season.