This was supposed to be the Start of Something for the Red Sox, the beginning of three straight series against divisional opponents, all of whom are ahead of them in the American League East standings, and by extension, the American League wild card race.
Here was the Red Sox' chance to make their move. If they could get one of those rolls they were on June, when they streamrolled every opponent they encountered, then they could play meaningful games in September. Win this series, then go home and win two more against Toronto and Tampa Bay, and see what the final month had in store for them.
They had begun the trip well enough, taking the first two games in Pittsburgh before sputtering in the series finale Thursday.
But Friday was their time. They could put their miserable July and sluggish August and make a statement.
Then the game began and Red Sox proceeded to step on rakes and sit on whoopee cushions.
They misplayed balls in the outfield, with one ball somehow managing to find an opening between Tommy Pham's head and his outstretched glove. Jarren Duran made an awkward and ill-advised diving attempt on a ball, missed it, then compounded things by airmailing the cut-off man with a tardy throw to home plate that allowed the trail runner to move up 90 feet.
Reese McGuire attempted to advance on a wild pitch, only to have the ball bounced off the brick backstop, resulting in an easy out at second.
The team's de facto captain, Xander Bogaerts, got himself ejected for arguing a called third strike, with his manager close behind, also thumbed for the rest of the night. Before long, due to an injury to Pham, the Sox had a most curious defensive alignment that featured, among other things, Bobby Dalbec starring at the sport's tallest second baseman.
It was that kind of night.
Though they trailed by six in the top of the fifth inning, they actually managed to make a game of it with five runs in the top of the fifth to close within a run and give themselves a chance. But unable to stand their sudden prosperity, they promptly handed the five runs right back to the Orioles in the bottom of the inning, and that was that.
"Weird game,'' commented Alex Cora in a massive bit of understatement.
Actually, embarrassing would have been a more accurate description.
Bogaerts is among the most professional and accountable players in recent Red Sox history, but he can't get himself ejected from a game that the Red Sox needed to win, and despite Kutter Crawford's best efforts to make sure that didn't happen, still had a chance to do so when Bogaerts was tossed in the fourth.
"I wasn't expecting to do this tonight,'' acknowledged Bogaerts to reporters in reference to being ejected, "but I actually feel better. I'm sorry it was on the umpire, I'm sorry it was to him. I let my team down coming out of the game but will all I'm going through, it felt good afterwards.''
If Bogaerts had simply stopped at the "I let my team down coming out of the game,'' part, it would have been both commendable and truthful. Instead, he offered some after-the-fact rationalization for his actions when, in actuality, there were none.
J.D. Martinez looks like one of the Lost Boys at the plate, while someone else is clearly impersonating Rafael Devers in the batters box. Bogaerts is supposed to be the stabilizing force, the rock of the lineup. On this night, as the frustration of a down season -- his own and the team's -- got to him, Bogaerts snapped.
If it somehow allows him to find his stroke over next two weeks and he begins to drive the ball again, perhaps his outburst will be looked upon some sort of motivational turning point. That, however, seems unlikely.
Meanwhile, Red Sox pitchers managed to give up 15 runs and 18 hits in a ballpark that has been transformed into a pitcher's park. The Orioles hit balls out to left, center and right -- five in all -- and the surprise is, they didn't exhaust themselves running -- and sometimes trotting -- around the bases.
If you subscribe to the theory that the Sox must win almost each remaining series to make up ground and leapfrog the three teams between them and the last rung of the wild card ladder, the Sox now need to take the final two games of the series. Having Michael Wacha on the mound Saturday will help.
On Sunday, meanwhile, the two teams will shift the series to Williamsport, PA., site of the Little League World Series.
There's an obvious joke to be made about that, but much like the Sox' playoff chances, I'm too tired to make it.