Things are not trending well for the Red Sox

They were supposed to have figured this out by the time June arrived. Oh, well.

On the night the month of May was put in the rearview mirror, the Red Sox lost to the worst team in Major League Baseball, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Reds Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

Alex Cora's club has now lost four of its last six, a stretch against Cincinnati and the Orioles that was supposed to catapult this team into a different sort of conversation. Well, instead the Sox are sitting four games under .500, four games out of a Wild Card spot.

A week ago, it sure seemed like the Red Sox were on the verge of figuring things out. They still haven't.

“You can control the way you play and dominate. It’s a mindset," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora after the latest loss at Fenway. "You have to get these people going because when it’s loud, they feel the pressure. But if we don’t do our jobs here, we don’t get leads or we’re not doing what we usually do here, it’s very quiet. It’s a very comfortable place to play here at Fenway as an opponent ... but when this place is loud, it’s Fenway, it’s tough to play here."

Evidently, even for the likes of the Reds and Orioles, not tough enough.

The offense the Red Sox thought they had unleashed has disappeared once again, scoring one run over the past two games. The ultimate reminder of that reality was in the ninth inning Tuesday night after they put runners on second and third with nobody out.

J.D. Martinez strikeout. Xander Bogaerts pop-up. Trevor Story strikeout. Game over.

"We had a chance at the end, second and third, no outs and we only scored one. I don’t think we’re chasing pitches or whatever. I think today (the pitching) was outstanding and yesterday the guy just pounded the zone," Cora reflected, referencing Cincy starter Luis Castillo. "We didn’t do too much with him. I still feel like we’re taking good swings, we’re still staying in the zone. We had 3-2 counts a lot today and all that, but obviously that’s not how you square the game. You have to score runs to win. The last few days, we haven’t been doing that."

"I’m not cashing in on RBI opportunities so that doesn’t help, either," Bogaerts said. "Listen, man, I don’t feel like I’m doing too much. I don’t think the other guys are trying to be the hero or anything like that. Sometimes when you’re not swinging the bat well, that’s when those opportunities come at you the most and it sucks. Whenever you have an opportunity like that, everyone goes into the at-bat trying to look for a good pitch and get the job done and get a ball you can drive to the outfield. When you miss your pitches in this league, it’s not right. It’s definitely not the best thing to do and the best approach to have is missing your pitch. That last at-bat, I got … you can call of them good pitches to hit. It’s just a bad night to be off."

There is also the defense which has taken a turn for the worse, particularly in the case of Rafael Devers. The Sox' third baseman made his fourth error in his last eight games, tossing an errant throw to first baseman Franchy Cordero in the sixth inning, leading to the Reds' first run.

Cordero - who is clearly a work in progress at his new position over at first - also had a hard time coming up with Bogaerts' one-hopper in the ninth. It was a play that led to the eventual game-winning run, and one the shortstop took full responsibility for.

"That was bad. That was a bad one. That was probably one of my worst games I’ve had," Bogaerts said. "Especially that ninth inning. Got to make a better throw than that. Got to make a better throw than that. Franchy is learning the position. He’s been incredible over there. I’ve just been bouncing balls to him lately. I can’t expect him to pick every one. He’s been doing a great job. It was bad timing for me to make a mistake like that."

Then there is the bullpen.

By the time the Red Sox got to this point in the season, the hope was that there would be some definition when it came to high-leverage roles. Once again, nope. There are pieces of the puzzle, but the reality is that Cora has been left to lean on the unproven - albeit intriguing - arms of Tyler Danish, John Schreiber and Matt Strahm.

Chaim Bloom decided to not pay for certainty when it came to building this bullpen, and two months in it has clearly been a misread.

We can talk about it being a long season, but now June has arrived some very real crossroads are looming. The Red Sox know they have holes, but will Bloom deem the team's potential worthy enough to invest in the here and now. And if he doesn't, then what does that mean for the big-ticket items whose contracts are expiring?

This we know: Summer certainly isn't starting like the Red Sox planned.

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