The Boston Red Sox returned to the postseason after missing the October action in five of the previous six seasons, and their Wild Card round did not go as Red Sox Nation hoped.
They faced their archrival New York Yankees after taking the season series against them in commanding 9-4 fashion, but their earlier success did not carry over. Boston battled severely diminished pitching depth and injuries to critical bats, but in the end, it beat itself.
The Red Sox made managerial mistakes, couldn't get the bats going and made far too many defensive miscues to win any playoff series, let alone a high-stakes rivalry Wild Card.