BOSTON -- Heading home to face the Cardinals, the team with the worst record in the National League, the Red Sox looked to have a big weekend at Fenway Park.

Instead, they endured a three-game sweep to the 16-25 Cards, capped by a disappointing 9-1 defeat on Sunday Night Baseball.

Here are three takeaways from a lost weekend for the 22-19 Red Sox, who have lost five out of six on the heels of an eight-game winning streak ending.

Brasier DFA’d
As Sunday night’s loss slipped away, it was hard not to notice Ryan Brasier being asked to record a career-high of seven outs in a mop-up role. Brasier also threw 42 pitches, the most in his career.

The righty was tagged for four hits and three runs as his season ERA swelled to 7.29.

It didn’t get any better for Brasier after the game. He told The Boston Globe and MassLive he had been designated for assignment, thus signaling the end of an association with the Red Sox that started in 2018. A source told MLB.com that the removal of Brasier from the roster was made with the intention of activating lefty Joley Rodríguez from the injured list prior to Monday’s game against the Mariners. The roster moves involving Brasier and Rodriguez will both be made official on Monday.

The Red Sox gave Brasier many chances to get back on track over the past couple of seasons, but it just never happened. The 35-year-old has been scored on in seven of his 20 appearances this season. He’s given up three earned runs on four different occasions.

It should not be forgotten that Brasier was a force in Boston’s World Series championship bullpen of 2018, posting a 1.60 ERA in 34 appearances in the regular season.

Kluber’s fastball command off the mark
Veteran righty starter Corey Kluber looked like he was starting to build momentum. After losing his first four starts with the Red Sox, Kluber posted a 3.86 ERA in his ensuing three starts, with Boston winning all three games.

But Sunday was another setback, as Kluber was tagged for seven hits, three walks and four runs -- including two homers -- over five innings.

“I think it just boils down to poor fastball command and made things a lot more difficult for myself than I needed to,” Kluber said.

Kluber has given up 11 homers in just 39 1/3 innings after giving up 20 in 164 innings for the Rays last season.

“I don’t think it’s anything overly complicated,” Kluber said. “I think I’m making too many mistakes in the heart of the plate, and good hitters up here, they don’t miss those too often when they get chances with those types of pitches.”

Sweep not as bad it looked
Oftentimes when a team gets swept, they get outplayed in numerous facets of the game throughout the series.

That wasn’t the case this weekend, as the Red Sox held leads in the ninth inning on Friday and Saturday, only to have closer Kenley Jansen suffer back-to-back, blown saves.

Coming into this series, Jansen had converted nine of his first 10 save opportunities, capped by No. 400 in Atlanta on Wednesday.

Jansen admitted he had an adrenaline letdown after hitting such a big milestone and vowed to regain his momentum next time he pitches.

The Red Sox are confident they will get back on track for the final three games of this homestand against the Mariners before hitting the West Coast for a nine-game trip against the Padres, Angels and Diamondbacks.