The Red Sox finished the season with a record of 81-81, missing the playoffs for the third straight year for the first time since 2010-12.

As promising as the Red Sox have looked at times, and as much progress as their young players have made, the club ultimately hasn’t been able to escape the gravitational pull of .500. Fittingly, the Red Sox concluded what has been a thoroughly middling season in middling fashion,

The Red Sox finished 81-81, missing the playoffs for the third straight year for the first time since 2010-12. The Rays ended 80-82, halting a stretch of five consecutive seasons going to the