This year was supposed to be different. With a healthy Trevor Story and a renewed focus on defense, the Red Sox thought they were ready to put last year’s struggles behind them.

And yet here they were Friday, fielding a borderline minor league lineup and getting booed out of their own ballpark after one of the most embarrassing displays in a recent history full of them.

Friday’s 7-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels marked a new low point for a club that hasn’t been able to get out of its own way. The Red Sox committed three errors and consistently looked overmatched on even the most routine plays, while on offense the lineup could hardly muster any resistance, especially with Rafael Devers sitting for the second straight day with a sore shoulder.

The entire evening, and really this past week as a whole, really underscored how badly this club needs Story, and pulling him out of the lineup has had a similar effect as pulling a Jenga piece from the base of a poorly constructed tower.

At this point it’s obvious the Red Sox do not have a proven, big-league caliber shortstop on their roster, and so far Triple-A call-up David Hamilton hasn’t been up to the task. The rookie has committed some sort of miscue in each of his first four starts, and Friday he botched what should have been a double play ball in the top of the first that eventually helped lead to three runs, setting the tone for the rest of the day.

To be sure, Hamilton wasn’t the only one who had a bad day.

Pablo Reyes, who starting at second base, also misplayed a ball that might have led to another double play opportunity later that inning. Triston Casas dropped a pop foul near the Red Sox dugout in the second, and Ceddanne Rafaela threw away a routine ball back to the infield, allowing another run to score in the third.

The boo birds came out in force after that, with the fans registering their disgust over what had become an avalanche of ineptitude.

None of this was helpful to Tanner Houck, though the right-hander didn’t help his own cause either. Houck had a wild pitch, a hit by pitch, and allowed 12 hits while only striking out two. He ultimately allowed seven runs (four earned) over 5.2 innings, and he was knocked out with two outs in the sixth after allowing a two-run home run to Taylor Ward.

Even if Houck had pitched well it probably wouldn’t have mattered, and even if the Red Sox could have managed more than three hits, it likely would have made little difference. No club could overcome the level of defensive incompetence the Red Sox have displayed, and it seems to get worse with each passing day.

At this point the Red Sox have committed 16 errors and allowed 19 unearned runs on the season, both the most in baseball. Boston actually started off as one of the better fielding teams in the league, but since Story went down last Friday the club has committed 11 errors and allowed 15 unearned runs over their last seven games

For the record, the league average for unearned runs over the entire season entering Friday was only six in 15 games.

This can’t continue. The Red Sox have already squandered their promising start by losing four straight games, and if they can’t find some kind of solution it won’t be long before they find themselves looking back up at the rest of the AL East from the basement once more.

The Red Sox (7-7) will look to start righting the ship on Saturday when they face the Angels again. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m.