The Angels beat the Red Sox, and the A's are embarrassing them.
Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine, right, talks with, from lef, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and first base coach Alex Ochoa before a recent game. Nobody is happy with this season, but Valentine might return unless a complete crumbling forces ownership to reconsider.If Bobby Valentine does not return as Red Sox manager in 2013, the past week and especially the weekend in Oakland may have something to do with it.
Club owners have been noncommittal about whether Valentine is safe for the second year of his two-year contract. With this season's playoff goals in tatters, the decision could rest on whether his Red Sox wage a fight to the finish, playing respectable baseball as a bridge to the future.
Friday's 20-2 pounding in Oakland hardly measured up. Neither did Saturday's 7-1 defeat that was marked by the sight of Alfredo Aceves and Dustin Pedroia arguing in the dugout, and Aceves again acting as if Valentine were the house butler and not his boss.
The losses left Boston with an 0-5 record on the road trip. Moreover, these games represented two of the most embarrassing, pie-in-your-face nights in modern Red Sox history.
The Red Sox would probably like to at least begin the 2013 season with Valentine, who began the past year with a lot of factors working against him.
The collapse this season is generally regarded to be not his fault, though his ability to serve as the solution is not universally accepted.
If the Red Sox completely fold up in September, ownership might have to start fresh - again. This is especially true if the problems extend to internal squabbling, not just poor results on the field by a team that is not fielding a very good lineup right now.
On Friday, Josh Reddick hit a grand slam, his 28th home run of the season. Brandon Moss had a home run, two doubles and four hits.
George Kottaras had two homers. The three former Red Sox players combined for 13 RBIs.
One of Kottaras' home runs came off Daniel Bard, who is back in the majors despite a 7.03 ERA at Pawtucket. The Athletics drove out Boston starter Aaron Cook in the third inning and scored nine runs off the bullpen in the seventh.
Left out of the fun on Friday, former Red Sox outfielder Coco Crisp led off Saturday's game with a home run. It was downhill from there.
The Red Sox have finally, grudgingly accepted their fate as a 2012 also-ran. Now they must deal with whether they are simply in need of reorganization and repair - or all-out bad.
How they respond could determine Valentine's fate, and affect the offseason strategy of a team in disarray.
"There's nothing to say. It was 20-2!'' Pedroia told media after Friday's game.
But there is a lot to ask. The Pedroia-Aceves spat on Saturday will come and go, and so might the troublesome Aceves as well.
It was not clear whether Valentine saw Aceves' disrespectful gesturing. Plausible denial will go only so far as this boat sinks, however.
Good teams have had terrible nights, often to rebound quickly and regain their stride.
The deterioration of the Red Sox, though, is hardly a one-night or one-week phenonenom. Friday's humbling came on the eve of September, where the club's house of cards began collapsing with last year's ignominious 7-20 finish.
The Oakland series provided a reunion with Andrew Bailey and his first team. The Red Sox traded Reddick for Bailey and Ryan Sweeney, a move designed to fill the void left by closer Jonathan Papelbon's departure as a free agent.
Bailey needed thumb surgery in spring training. He was activated Aug. 14 and has pitched well.
Reddick has blossomed into just the type of young, low-cost outfielder with power that Boston desperately needs.
Sweeney hit .260 with no home runs in 63 games. The Red Sox were on the verge of trading him to Cincinnati when Sweeney punched a door in frustration and broke his hand, ending his season.
Moss was dealt to Pittsburgh as part of the three-way Manny Ramirez trade with the Dodgers in 2008. The outfielder now plays first base, another open position in Boston.
Kottaras was acquired when the Red Sox traded David Wells to San Diego in 2006. He was released in 2009 and has played for Milwaukee and Oakland.
Crisp is hitting .260 with 10 home runs and 30 stolen bases. Last year, he led the AL with 49 steals.
Aceves' struggles, more than his behavior, leave Bailey as the Boston closer, which was the plan from the start. The Red Sox want to see more of Bailey in that role, but doing so would require them to hold a late-inning lead.
The had one Tuesday in Anaheim, but Bailey was unavailable after pitching in four of the five previous games.
Aceves lost a one-run lead in a 6-5 loss. In the next four games, Boston was outscored 42-8 and never led.
Saturday's defeat left the Red Sox with a 62-72 record, the first time they have been 10 games under .500.
The first 90-loss season since 1966, the year before the Impossible Dream pennant team changed the course of Red Sox history, would occur with a 10-18 finish.
That cannot be ruled out. And unlike the 1966 team, which was 42-39 in the second half of a 72-90 and was developing future cogs like George Scott and Joe Foy, this team is going down with no reason to think it will get better soon.
For fans under 50, the 89-loss season of 1992 is this team's lowest ebb, but a team in freefall is in danger of setting the bar even lower.