Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
The last six weeks have not been good for the Red Sox. They fell out of first place on the final day of July after losing four of five games to finish the month. Then, they proceeded to lose eight of their first 11 games in August. On Aug. 31, exactly one month after they first dropped to second in the AL East, they were 10 games behind the Rays.
Toward the end of this free fall, Kiké Hernández, who is vaccinated, tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug.