BOSTON -- After getting knocked around by the Indians for most of Wednesday night’s 14-9 loss at Fenway Park, the Red Sox had little time to wallow in the discouraging turn of events.

A crucial showdown awaits them, and they need to focus on what is ahead rather than what they left behind.

For the Red Sox, Thursday marks the start of a four-game series in the Bronx against the Yankees.

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While it would have been much more ideal to enter the latest rivalry showdown with some positive momentum, Boston instead makes the trip trailing New York by 7 1/2 games in the American League East.

This, after the Red Sox lost the last two games of the three-game set against the Indians. This, after a 7-8 stretch in their last 15 games.

“We’ll get there and we’ll try to win the series, you know? We just have to play better -- that’s the bottom line,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

Ace Chris Sale is up first for the Sox in New York, and he will look to be the tone-setter in a series that provides a big opportunity for the defending World Series champions to regain their footing.

“I love to compete. My teammates love to compete,” said Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. “We’re going to be playing in a pretty great environment against a really good team and we look forward to the challenge.”

After Tuesday’s rough defeat, in which the Sox squandered a 5-2 lead in the ninth, things were tough from the outset in this one.

Starter Ryan Weber was roughed up for seven runs in four innings. None of the bullpen options Cora went to worked either.

With his relievers taxed following that crushing loss on Tuesday and a recently unforgiving schedule, Cora stuck with low-leverage relief options in Wednesday’s loss.

The Indians had been off to a rough start to the season offensively. But all that changed the last two nights, and at the expense of the Red Sox. Cleveland scored in the final two innings on Tuesday and in the first seven innings Wednesday.

“Especially [Tuesday], we were lined up with the guys who have been throwing the ball well. It didn’t happen,” said Cora. “There was a lot of traffic today. Days like this, you keep battling and try to match up and try to maximize what you have. You know, get outs, and then the offense can pick you up. But it was a tough one.”

As the Red Sox mounted a couple of comebacks, Cora thought back to an old lesson Indians manager Terry Francona taught him many years ago with regard to bullpen usage.

“We were down pitching-wise and we kept scoring, and you feel like, ‘Oh God, we have a shot.’ But like Tito used to say, ‘You can’t be chasing wins,’” Cora said. “You have to be careful with that, because then if you do that, you’re four runs down, you feel like you can come back and use your big boys then, and you’re going to pay the price the next seven days. You have to be disciplined, and we were tonight.”

So the upside is they at least go into New York with their rotation lined up the way they want it. Eduardo Rodriguez, Rick Porcello and David Price will follow Sale in the final three games of the series.

“I mean, we need to play better, but I think the last [11] innings haven’t been good,” said Cora. “We haven’t pitched well, so we have to be better. I said it early in the season when we went there, and I’ll say it again -- it’s not that we’re going there and we’re playing New York ... it really doesn’t matter. The road trip might be Miami or somewhere else; we have to play better. We didn’t play well the last [11] innings.”

Despite their many injuries to key players, the Yankees have found a way all season.

“They’re a great team,” said Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts. “They’re deep. They’ve been playing well.”

Boston has won the division the last three seasons. But a four-peat is going to be tough to attain if the deficit keeps increasing.

On the positive side, the offense has been looking dangerous for the Red Sox lately.

“We’ve been doing better. Just kind of inconsistent with different parts of the game, but we’re definitely taking some strides forward,” said Betts. “It’s a long season and we’ve got a long way to go.”

While the Red Sox have had mini runs and are a solid 18-10 since April 29, they haven’t put together a winning streak of more than five games. There’s a sense within the clubhouse that it has to be coming at some point.

“It’s just a matter of putting it together,” Betts said. “You never know when it’s going to come, but when it does, you just have to ride the wave.”