NEW YORK — After the champagne, the Red Sox have never been much good at curing the hangover.
That’s not exclusive to them. No Major League team has repeated as champion since the 2000 Yankees, who won their third straight and fourth in five years. The Red Sox have had three opportunities since the ghosts were exorcised in 2004 to win back-to-back titles. But the headache from the previous October’s celebration always has a tendency to linger, and no elixir so far has prevented the 2019 Red Sox from being affected either.
They entered Saturday night’s game against the first-place Yankees (37-19) with an 8½-game deficit in the American League East, the Tampa Bay Rays between them in the standings, and in danger of dipping back to .