For the fifth time in the last six years, the Red Sox are going to be watching October baseball from home.

The 2024 Red Sox’ pursuit of the postseason came to an end on Wednesday night, with Boston falling to the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-1, at Rogers Centre. This marks the third year in a row that the Red Sox have not qualified for the postseason.

Wednesday’s result was far from a surprise, as Boston entered the night trailing the Royals and Tigers by 3.5 games for the third and final American League Wild Card spot.

The only scenario where Boston clinched a playoff spot was by winning its final four games — and the Royals losing four of five, the Twins dropping three of five, and the Mariners losing one of their final four games. 

The odds have not been in Boston’s favor for weeks now, given the Red Sox’ second-half slide. 

Entering the All-Star break with a 53-42 record, Boston lost momentum in short order — dropping seven of their first nine games after the break. In total, the Red Sox have posted a record of 27-37 since mid-July, scuttling any chance of Fenway Park keeping its gates open in October. 

Even with Boston’s farm system making significant strides this summer, the results at the big-league level left a lot to be desired. 

Speaking to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe ahead of Wednesday’s game, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow acknowledged that any promising strides made by the organization were undercut by another season coming to a close in September. 

“We play these games to make it to the postseason, win the World Series. And so falling short of that, it should be a disappointment. I want it to be a disappointment. I want it to hurt,” Breslow said. “That doesn’t mean we can’t find things that we did well or things that are encouraging or reasons for optimism, but at the end of the day, you play these seasons to win games and get to the postseason. We are potentially looking at a season where that didn’t happen.”

The Red Sox have just three games left on their schedule, with Boston hosting the Rays at Fenway Park from Friday through Sunday.