Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon was aware of the epidemic of injuries sweeping across the Red Sox. He knew that Boston was without Jacoby Ellsbury, a player who he believed was ready for a breakout year, and that the losses of Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis had struck at the heart of the team.

And yet, through all of that, Maddon “absolutely” believed that the Sox would continue to remain in the thick of a three-team race, running alongside the Rays and Yankees. The reason for that was simple enough.

“A big part of it is pitching. You can absorb different injuries on the field and they can be very difficult, but if you can keep your pitching intact and you play defense, it can still carry you through the moment until guys get well or other guys figure it out,” said Maddon. “The fact that most of their problems were located on the field and not in their pitching, I just felt their pitching staff, their starters are among the best. And I know the bullpen has suffered but the two guys at the end are also among the best.

“So while they’re going through all these different maladies, I’m seeing that the pitching is still intact. You still have to respect that and from my perspective.”

Maddon’s expectations, however, have since been undermined by the struggles of the offense. The Sox have actually enjoyed a fairly strong pitching performance since Youkilis went down. Since he was placed on the disabled list with his year-ending adductor muscle injury on Aug. 3, Sox pitchers have a 3.87 ERA.

However, the Sox have hit just .248 and a .720 OPS while averaging 4.2 runs per game in that time. They have gone 16-15, and effectively fallen out of contention.

That is not merely a product of injuries, but also of the division in which the Sox reside. Whereas other races might be more forgiving of a .500 stretch, the Sox’ residence in a brutal AL East that features two teams (the Rays and Yankees) that could finish the year with 100 wins, and two more (the Sox and Blue Jays) good enough to challenge for a title in virtually any other division has taken away such margin for struggle.

“In spring training, I think I was right on,” sighed Sox manager Terry Francona. “I said the Yankees were going to be really good, Tampa was scary good, Toronto was good and Baltimore was improving. I think that’s kind of what happened. I think I was, unfortunately, right.”