The postgame questions now tiptoe around the math. There are no references to the number of games the Red Sox sit behind the third wild card team (nine, if you've lost track), or questions about making up ground on the small army of teams that now sit in front of them in the standings.
Instead, there are hopeful assessments about a young player here and there, as part of a search for something, anything, positive. Some nights it is a futile task.
And hey, how about that Zack Kelly? Quite a story, isn't it?
If the topic of the postseason were to be introduced, it would likely result in Alex Cora doing his utmost to not channel his inner Jim Mora.
"Playoffs??'' Cora would probably sputter. "Don't talk to be about playoffs! You kiddng me? I just hope we can win a game.''
With 32 games to play over the next five weeks, chances are good that the Red Sox will win another game. But the notion of the postseason being within the team's grasp is now laughable.
A more competitive homestand (the Sox went 2-4) might have kept the dream alive for another week or two. But the Sox have followed up by dropping the first two games of their mini three-game road trip and are now a half-dozen games under .500. Where not long ago the goal was to somehow leapfrog teams and grab one of the wild cards in the expanded playoff system, now even the notion of finishing with something other than a losing record seems out of reach.
Even there, the Red Sox have their work cut out for them. It will require the Red Sox to go 20-12 down the stretch to finish with 82 wins. Does this look like a team capable of playing .625 ball over the next month or so? Hardly.
In the short term, the Sox should be content to stop embarrassing themselves. In the series opener Monday night, they not only lost, but also, had their best player lose track of the number of outs. And a second player made a baserunning mistake that would have been more forgivable had it taken place in Williamsport, site of the Little League World Series.
Tuesday had its own new set of glaring miscues. Alex Verdugo, the guilty party Monday when he failed to tag up on a ball hit to the outfield thereby costing his team a certain run, this time had a routine fly ball clang off his glove. Three batters later, that run scored as part of a grand slam by Nick Gordon.
"It pisses me off when I make mistakes, when I mess up, when I hurt the team,'' Verdugo told reporters in Minneapolis. "I take it heavy. It's not something I take lightly. I'm definitely pissed off about it.''
Indeed, Verdugo's contrition seemed genuine. Cameras showed him shaking his head repeatedly in the outfield after the error, just as he expressed frustration with himself the night before following his baserunning faux pas.
But remorse and accountability are fine after the fact. By then, the damage has already been done. And as bad as the season has been, the potential exists for it to get worse over the final five weeks. If the last two nights are any example, the Sox seem to be teetering.
"We've got to clean up everything,'' acknowledged Verdugo. "We've got to obviously clean up the defense. Pitchers have to attack the zone. We've got to come through clutch with hitting. ... Right now, we're not firing on any of the cylinders.''
Cora, who has to be a little circumspect in his public remarks, didn't deny his frustration.
"Like we've been saying all along, we've just got to be better,'' said Cora. "We know where we're at right now. It looks hard, but at the same time, it doesn't matter. It's just the brand of baseball that we have to play is better than this. We know we're capable of doing it, and we haven't done it.''
Indeed, in a way, there's more on the line that a longshot wild card berth. There's pride and self-esteem.
The remaining schedule is dotted with games against Toronto, Tampa Bay, New York and Baltimore, all vying for playoff positioning. If the Red Sox aren't careful, they could roll into September, humiliated by teams who are playing with a purpose and a goal.
Some changes should be in order. Ryan Brasier, whose ERA skyrocketed to 6.62 when he hit the first batter he faced and allowed a mammoth grand slam to the second, shouldn't be entrusted with any more leads. And it's worth asking whether Kutter Crawford deserves additional starts.
It's time to forget the distant, faint hope of the playoffs and focus instead on playing the game with some degree of professionalism.
In a season that has been underwhelming in every way, that wouldn't seem like too much to ask for the final five weeks.