Red Sox pitchers have displayed one specific, disturbing trend. Taking a step to reverse it may be the key to a major turnaround for the underachieving team.

I’m tired of talking about the Red Sox being bad, but the Red Sox are bad and haven’t improved. A surefire way for improvement, you might believe, would be trading for better players. The trade deadline is still a few weeks away,

NEW YORK — Red Sox rookie Marcelo Mayer made a trade with a Yankees fan after Friday’s game. The 22-year-old rookie blasted his first big league home run 410 feet in the right-center field stands here at Yankee Stadium. The young fan, who caught it, gave Mayer the ball in exchange for an autographed bat and another ball.