Of late, as the late-season losses pile up, Alex Cora has taken to lamenting how many games the Red Sox have lost by a small margin.
And it's true -- of the Red Sox' 78 losses this season, right up to and including Friday's 5-4 setback to the Yankees, almost half (38) have been by either one or two runs.
That's especially true of a lot of games the Sox played within the division, and even more specifically, against the Yankees themselves. The teams have played 17 times to date and 10 have been decided by a single run. Another two were decided by just two runs.
Cora's motive here isn't difficult to discern: the Red Sox continue to play hard down the stretch (which is largely true), and even though there are now 20 full games separating the longtime rivals in the standings, the gap isn't as large as the standing would suggest.
The second point is also mostly true. The Sox have been in the vast majority of the games with the Yankees. From there, it's easy to think: Gee, with a break here or there, the Sox could have won another four or five of those games, and then.....
But this isn't horseshoes, with points awarded for being close. Sure, it beats being pantsed by your top rival, embarrassed by some one-sided blowouts.
Still, this is major league baseball. It's not about giving good effort, and trying hard, or any of that. Those elements should be assumed.
But there's a reason why the Red Sox keep losing these close games: they have the uncanny ability to commit mistakes -- or out-and-out errors -- at the worst possible time. They fail to do the little things that so often decide these kinds of games. In a season full of 50-50 games, the Sox seldom get the ball to go their way. But this isn't about tough luck or not catching any breaks. The fact is, the Red Sox deserve what they get.
Take Friday's loss. Tied 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth, reliever Matt Strahm issued a two-out walk, never a good sign.
Then it got worse. With Harrison Bader taking a good-sized lead off first, Strahm threw wildly past first baseman Triston Casas just as Bader was set to break for second. As the ball landed in foul territory and Casas chased after it, Bader advanced all the way to third base.
From there, naturally, Bader trotted home when Jose Trevino singled to left. That proved to be the deciding run.
There were other missteps earlier, neither of which helped the Red Sox' cause.
In the fourth, with one out, Rich Hill got Josh Donaldson to hit a popup to shallow left field. Fill-in shortstop Yu Chang drifted back, but didn't take charge of the ball and it fell between three fielders -- Chang, left fielder Tommy Pham and center fielder Rob Refsnyder.
That proved relatively harmless when Hill retired the next two hitters with Donaldson in scoring position, though the misplay forced Hill into throwing a few more high-leverage pitches than should have been necessary.
The next inning, another mistake took place in the outfield. Torres sliced a double to left, and when Pham went to transfer it from his glove to his hand, he bobbled it for an instant. He then compounded matters by overthrowing not one but two cutoff men lined up. His throw into the infield was so off-line it enabled Torres to advance from second to third.
It's this kind of sloppiness, committed at the worst possible time, that has come to characterize the Red Sox' play this season.
On Thursday, it wasn't so much as poor fundamentals or defensive lapses as much as it was lousy situational hitting. In the eighth inning, ahead by a run, the Red Sox loaded the bases with one out. But they couldn't get the flyball to the outfield that would have provided a huge insurance run. Instead, the Sox got an infield popup and a strikeout, stranding all three baserunners.
Meanwhile, in the bottom of the inning, the Yankees tied it with an infield hit, a stolen base, a groundout and a sacrifice fly. They then won the game two innings later, on their 16th walkoff victory of the season.
One team figured out a way to scratch out a run, and other didn't.
So, yes, the Red Sox have been competitive. Yes, they've hung in a lot of these games.
But there's a reason why the Red Sox trail the Yankees by 20 full games in the standings. Part of it is the relative talent on each roster, but part of it failing to make a play, move a baserunner or convert a ball into an out.
And unless you're big on participation trophies at the professional level, the Red Sox are where they are -- in the division cellar and on the wrong end of a lot of these close games -- for a reason.