On the final day of the Yankees series in New York, Adrian Gonzalez relayed a powerful statement, claiming the Red Sox understood they were embarking on a two-month excursion into "playoff baseball."

Well, after a punch-in-the-gut, 6-5, 10-inning loss to the Twins, Gonzalez managed to offer another succinct mandate.

"Today's frustrating because of where we're at. We're getting close to the end of the year. With two months to go, these are the kinds of games we can't afford to lose," he said. "This seems to be the story of the season. We've got to find a way."

Correct on all fronts.

Frustrating for the Red Sox? Absolutely. The defeat was perhaps one of the most frustrating considering the team had a 5-1 lead against a not-so-good Twins team. (Although it should be noted the Red Sox are just six games in front of Minnesota in the loss column, while 11 in back of the Yankees.)

Close to the end of the year? With 55 games remaining, that would certainly seem to be the case. As a point of reference, the Sox were 28-27 after their first 55, taking them through June 5.

These are games the Red Sox can't afford to lose. It is shocking that the Red Sox are still hanging around, residing four games out of the second wild card spot, which, by the way, is one game better than a week ago. But of the 55 left, there are now just 13 games in which the Sox would currently be favorites (thanks to two more with the Twins, four against Cleveland and Kansas City, and three in Toronto). 

This is, indeed, the story of the season. You manage two hits one night and lose. The next night you bounce back with 14 and lose again. The Red Sox have scored the third-most runs in the major leagues, more than the Yankees. Yet, 29 times the Sox have been limited to two or fewer runs, which is nine more such occasions as New York. Moral: Feast … famine … not figuring it out.

And, finally, the Red Sox do have to find a way. The problem is, finding that way has eluded them -- for whatever reason -- for more than four months now. This is a team that has a plus-29 when it comes to run differential (the be-all, end-all for some when identifying the promise of a team). That's better than Detroit, Tampa Bay and Baltimore, and just two runs off the pace of Oakland. Doesn't matter.

The Red Sox have yet to find themselves more than three games over .500 this season. The late-to-the-party 2011 St. Louis Cardinals had crossed that barrier by April 29 last season.

It is that final part -- figuring it out -- that should offer the most uneasiness for the Red Sox. Frustration and nights like Friday are part of the deal. It is close to the end of the year, but if you have to search for hope, there are always teams to lean on. There was the Colorado team sat just three games over .500 at the end of August in 2007, while last season's Tampa Bay team was 10 games in back of the Red Sox at this time last year.

Even the "games we can't afford to lose" part is somewhat tempered by the notion that the Red Sox' undeniable ace, Clay Buchholz, is being dropped into this three-game losing streak, taking the mound Saturday night against rookie Cole De Vries.

But the failure to find a sustainable solution to what ails the Red Sox will continue to be this team's biggest obstacle.

You can blame injuries, manager-player relations, snitches, attitudes, underachieving, roster turnover, the lack of roster turnover and everything else that has been surfaced throughout the first 107 games. But if there is one lesson that should be learned from the season to date, it is that no one thing is preventing prolonged success. It's a little bit of everything.

Such drama as what surfaced Thursday with Valentine's communication with Will Middlebrooks, and the subsequent chaos that followed, wasn't being mulled by Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia when making the final two outs in the eighth inning with the bases loaded. And when Felix Doubront allowed the Twins to wipe out a four-run lead in the fifth, thoughts of discourse between the manager and the pitching coach weren't racing through his head.

Make no mistake about it, the unneeded communication issues and off-the-field storylines don't help. They are the types of things that muddy the track for a team desperately trying to break off into some sort of sprint. Much of it should be avoidable, but the team continually fails to avoid such issues. And the worse part about it for the Red Sox is that it is also the kind of drama that doesn't figure to disappear completely any time soon. This they will have to live with.

But there is so much more. David Ortiz still isn't healthy, and the designated hitter surmised he might not be for the entirety of this season. This is the kind of thing that offers even more of a weight to the backs of the Red Sox than any clubhouse grumbling or eye-rolling. Since Ortiz' departure from the Red Sox -- 17 games now -- they are 23rd in the majors in OPS (.692) and 20th in runs scored (70).

It also doesn't help that during that stretch, the Red Sox starters haven't exactly done their part in picking up the slack. The group is just 2-9 with a 5.97 ERA.

The fill-ins have turned in admirable performances for the most part, but this isn't a team built on the premise that its lineup's final four hitters have a combined uniform number of 256 (as was the case Thursday night). 

Very little has added up this season for the Red Sox, as was exemplified the past two games. And now the Red Sox are running out of time to decipher this elusive equation. Like it or not, but "Pencils down!" time is almost upon us.