Upcoming stretch a chance for Red Sox to gain steam

This story was excerpted from Ian Browne’s Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BOSTON -- Silver linings aren’t easy to find for a team that just got swept at home for the second time in two weeks.

But if the Red Sox, who haven’t been able to find their footing after a solid first half of the season, can take solace in something, it is this: The schedule is finally going to get easier.

Over the past month-plus, coming out of the All-Star break, the schedule was filled with contenders. The five-week stretch that wrapped up with Sunday’s sweep at the hands of the red-hot D-backs also included a series at Dodger Stadium, a home series against the Yankees, a three-game set in Kansas City, six games against the Astros and four at Baltimore.

At the All-Star break, the Red Sox were 11 games above .500, and two games up in the American League Wild Card standings. They were being talked up as one of the surprise teams in MLB.

Since the break, the Red Sox are 14-20. FanGraphs gives them a 24.2% chance of getting to the postseason. That two-game edge at the break has turned into a 4 1/2-game deficit to the two teams (the Royals and Twins) that are currently tied for the second AL Wild Card spot.

Translation: The Red Sox need to get hot, and hope the Royals and/or Twins run into some trouble.

The Sox start this week with a five-game series against the 63-68 Blue Jays, who are in fifth place in the AL East. Then, they hit the road and play three in Detroit against the 65-66 Tigers, a team that has played well of late.

The following week includes a three-game series in New York against the 68-63 Mets and then what could be the ultimate gift, three games at home against the 31-100 White Sox.

Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas got philosophical about the big games ahead.

“We’re an optimistic group, for sure,” said Casas. “We’re going to come out and play hard, smart and fast. We have turned the page [from the Arizona sweep]. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Baseball is a really funny game. It has no remorse. It doesn’t favor the hardest-working or the nicest people. It’s just who comes out to play that day.

"The mood is always going to stay up. We’re always going to keep each other encouraged. We’re going to keep learning, getting better and that’s going to lead to winning ballgames, whether that is tomorrow or down the road. Next year doesn’t matter. We’re focused on tomorrow, coming out, winning two and starting a good five-game home series against the Blue Jays.”

One of the most problematic aspects of the season for the Red Sox is that their struggles at Fenway could wind up as the catalyst in keeping them out of the playoffs. Boston has a 29-35 home record, and it's 38-27 on the road.

“We have to have a winning culture, a winning atmosphere for everybody to enjoy,” said Casas. “That’s on us, and we have to do a little better job of winning games and putting teams away, then things will turn our way. We like where we’re at. Offensively, we’re swinging the bat well, but we just have to finish some games.”