The evidence, to be fair, was there on their own scoreboard, even before the first pitch of the first Fenway series between the Red Sox and Yankees.
In the division standings, visible for almost anywhere in the ballpark, the math was stark and ugly for the Red Sox. There were the Yankees atop the leader board, and there were the Red Sox. In the GB (games behind) column, next to the Red Sox, was the number 14.
By the end of the night, though the Red Sox don't hurry to immediately update things, the number would be 15.
In other words, this isn't a race for first place, and it hasn't been for a long time. The Red Sox can take some satisfaction in digging themselves out from a horrid 10-19 start and getting back into the wild card chase, but when it comes to the division, it's no contest. With six more games against the Yankees over the next 10 days, the Sox might soon need binoculars to spot the Yankees.
The Yankees beat the Sox 6-5. They did so without Aaron Judge or Anthony Rizzo in their lineup. They did so despite Gerrit Cole struggling again in Fenway, twice beaten by his personal tormentor Rafael Devers, who belted a pair of homers to account for all five Red Sox runs.
Without two regulars and with their own ace off his game, the Yankees still won. It's almost impossible to get to the New York bullpen, as the Sox discovered again firsthand. Cole left after six innings and three Yankee relievers faced 10 hitters, and retired nine of them. The lone baserunner came in the eighth when Xander Bogaerts worked a walk that resulted in nothing.
For the past week, Red Sox hitters have been ineffectual when it comes to delivering with runners on base. But on Thursday night, they weren't even in a position to fail. They had a grand total of three at-bats with RISP, and got one hit -- the second of the two homers from Devers.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox were leaning on Josh Winckowski to get them off to the right start in this series, and Winckowski had great difficulty throwing the ball over the plate, issuing five walks in five innings. Twice, he walked No. 9 hitter Joey Gallo. Two of the six runs scored off Winckowski came directly as a result of those walks.
Winckowski has largely kept the Red Sox in games in his six starts -- even after the six runs in five innings, his ERA is a modest 4.35 -- but it's worth remembering that he wouldn't be in the rotation had the Sox not been bludgeoned by a series of injuries to their starting pitchers.
"It's a good learning experience,'' said manager Alex Cora of Winckowski's effort. "He's still learning how to pitch. That's a big stage out there and that's the best team in baseball. He battled. He gave us five and he's going to keep getting better.''
It was more of the same in the field, where the Red Sox continue to play Franchy Cordero at first base, essentially for the lack of other options. Cordero remains an intriguing offensive performer, with great raw power and surprisingly good speed for someone of his size. But as a defender, his best position remains the batter's box.
That point was hammered home in the fifth inning, and it ended up costing the Sox the game.
With two outs and Aaron Hicks at third base, Winckowski seemed on the verge of getting out of the inning when he got Alex Trevino to hit a popup to the right of the mound. Cordero ran in, called for the ball, then twisted himself in a knot and had the ball fall in behind him as Hicks scored and Trevino took second with what was generously ruled a double.
"He just misjudged it,'' said Cora. "He dropped it. He's still learning, right? We know it wasn't going to be perfect. He's still learning. He's working hard. He's getting better at a few things. But stuff like that is going to happen.''
And there's a key difference between the two teams: while the Yankees can win without two key hitters in the lineup and overcome a less-than-great start from their No. 1 starter, the Red Sox have a starting pitcher and a first baseman learning on the job.
Filtered through that lens, it's not much of a mystery why the distance between the clubs in the standings is considerable, with the real chance that it will continue to grow in the next week and a half.