It was all right there for the taking.

The Kansas City Royals dropped seven straight games amid their toughest stretch of the season. The Minnesota Twins didn’t fare much better, losing six of their last nine entering Wednesday. The Red Sox, meanwhile, were entering what was on paper a light stretch, and if things had gone according to plan they could have returned to Fenway Park this weekend in playoff position.

Instead they’ll return home right back where they started. A .500 team that looks destined to finish on the outside looking in for the third consecutive season.

The Red Sox lost their fifth straight game on Wednesday, losing 8-3 to the New York Mets. Jesse Winker hit a first-inning grand slam off Tanner Houck to power the Mets, who finished off a three-game sweep that could potentially prove the final nail in the coffin for Boston’s playoff hopes.

By virtually every measure the Red Sox haven’t performed like a team that has any business playing in October. The club has lost five straight, gone 17-27 since the All-Star break and is now 70-70 on the season. The Red Sox have performed particularly poorly over the last three weeks, and since Aug. 18 the Red Sox are 5-12 including 11 games with three runs scored or fewer.

And that’s to say nothing of the team’s inconsistent defense and second-half bullpen struggles.

Wednesday brought more of the same, with the Mets setting the tone early by scoring four runs right out of the gate. Each of the first three batters reached safely against Houck to load the bases with no outs, and Winker made Boston pay with his grand slam to center field.

Houck settled down and retired the next 13 batters he faced, a dominant stretch that at one point included six straight strikeouts, but the damage was effectively done. Boston rallied for three runs in the top of the third on an RBI double by Jarren Duran and sacrifice flies by Rafael Devers and Wilyer Abreu, but the Red Sox squandered scoring opportunities in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to a trio of inning-ending double plays.

The first two of those came on the first pitch of their respective at bats and stranded the tying run in scoring position, while the third cost Boston a chance to set things up for the top of the lineup.

The Red Sox’ last real opportunity came in the eighth when Rob Refsnyder and Tyler O’Neill hit back-to-back singles to put men on the corners with two outs, but Masataka Yoshida lined out to shortstop to end the threat.

After that things came completely unglued, and Kenley Jansen and Rich Hill combined to walk five men in the bottom of the eighth, including three with the bases loaded. Harrison Bader tacked on a sacrifice fly to make it 8-3, and that was all she wrote.

Even prior to Wednesday’s loss Boston’s playoff odds had already fallen to 12.1% according to FanGraphs, its lowest mark since June 8. The club could potentially reach a new season-low when Thursday’s odds are published, and about the only silver lining is that the Chicago White Sox — on pace to be one of MLB’s worst teams ever — will be coming to town this weekend for a series at Fenway Park.

But even if the Red Sox can bounce back against their moribund counterparts, it could be too little too late. This road trip was Boston’s big chance to make up ground, and after going 1-5 against two beatable opponents, the club now finds itself closer to last place in the AL East than to the playoff cutline.

Boston still has 22 games left to determine its fate, but barring a dramatic turnaround these past few games could be remembered as the moment all was lost.