What happened?

How did a season that was so promising for the first half end up in such a dismal, disappointing fashion?

Looking back, the Boston Red Sox hit several potholes in their attempt to make it to the postseason for the fourth consecutive year. So many, in fact, that the battered bandwagon wound up in the shop, unable to be patched up, by the beginning of September.

The Red Sox weren't officially eliminated from the American League East race until Sept. 20, and their wild-card hopes weren't officially dashed until Sept. 23, but this team was out of gas and left on the side of the road much earlier.

Where did it all go so wrong?

What follows is a collection of games, or stretches of games, or circumstances that plunged the Red Sox to their ignominious fate.

Gasping at the break While the Sox clearly flamed out in August, maybe the seeds of the summer's discontent were planted in the final game of the first half.

On July 9, holding a three-game lead over the Yankees, who lost that day, Boston wound up suffering an excruciating 6-5, 19-inning loss in Chicago.

Jonathan Papelbon, his arm feeling a bit fatigued, blew a save by giving up a game-tying two-out solo homer to Jermaine Dye in the ninth. Mark Loretta smacked a two-run single in the 11th, but Mike Timlin blew that save by serving up two runs in the bottom of the 11th.

In the end, it was Rudy Seanez walking off the field with his head down, as the White Sox scraped together a run in the 19th, ending a long game (6 hours, 19 minutes) and putting a damper on Boston's solid first half.

The Red Sox lost a chance to boost their lead to four games. They never did expand their lead by that much.

The trade deadline General manager Theo Epstein stuck to his guns.

He refused to trade young players the organization viewed as the future core of the team to bolster the Sox for the stretch run, figuring Boston was competitive enough without having to mortgage the future.

So Boston's roster remained status quo as the July 31 trading deadline came and went.

While the results of Epstein's decision may not be totally evaluated until a few years from now when (or if) the protected youngsters appear on the scene, he obviously offered no help to the 2006 team.

His timing isn't very good, either.

On July 30, Trot Nixon swung and missed a pitch and had to leave the game because of a strained right biceps. He didn't return until Sept. 3.

On July 31, captain and catcher Jason Varitek had to come out of a game because of a torn meniscus in his right knee, an injury that required surgery. He also didn't return until Sept. 3.

Thank you, Fausto Carmona The Sox, their lead down to one-half game, began a stretch of 13 games against the weakest competition in the A.L. by hosting Cleveland for a four-game set, beginning on July 31.

At the time, the Indians were 45-58. Boston wound up splitting the four-game series, but only because Cleveland kept trying to prove that flamethrowing Fausto Carmona was a closer. He wasn't.

David Ortiz clouted a walkoff three-run homer off Carmona on July 31 for a 9-8 win, and after hitting two batters and walking another with two outs in the ninth on Aug. 2, Carmona was tagged for a walkoff two-run double by Mark Loretta that produced a 6-5 Red Sox win.

The Indians could easily have swept the series. Give the Sox credit for bouncing back, if you will, but on Aug. 3, when Cleveland won the final game, 7-6, on Jake Westbrook's 15-hit, 8-inning performance, Boston had dropped into second place, one game behind the Yankees.

The Red Sox didn't sniff first place for the rest of the season.

Rough trip, Part I It was supposed to be a cakewalk, the appetizer portion of the schedule before the Red Sox started to match up against the best in the A.L. down the stretch.

Tampa Bay and Kansas City.

When the Sox left Fenway after their split with the Indians, the Devil Rays were 45-64 and the Royals' record was worse, 38-70.

But Boston stumbled badly on the journey. The Red Sox dropped two of three to the Rays, failing to win the rubber game of the series despite a 6-2 7th-inning lead. Papelbon surrendered a game-tying opposite-field homer to Dioner Navarro in the eighth and Greg Norton slugged a walkoff blast off Julian Tavarez in the 10th.

Things got worse in Kansas City. The Royals swept a three-game series. The first loss was mundane enough, a 6-4 setback, but the last two stung badly.

A weary Papelbon blew a lead and the game in a two-run meltdown in the ninth inning on Aug. 9 in a 5-4 loss, and the next night, ace right-hander Curt Schilling let a two-run lead get away from him in the eighth in another 5-4 setback.

Boston went 1-5 on the trip that was supposed to position the Red Sox for the stretch run. Instead, they returned home three games out in the A.L. East, and two games out in the wild-card chase.

The Yankee massacre Despite their injuries and weak play against the league's worst teams, the Red Sox had five games with New York at home, beginning with a day-night doubleheader on Aug. 18. They were in second, but only 1 1/2 games behind the Yanks.

It was time to make a statement in the A.L. East race.

And they did. But the statement was, "Stick a fork in us, we're done."

As every Sox fan (and Yankee fan) is aware, New York racked up an improbable five-game sweep of Boston at Fenway Park, stunningly boosting its lead to 6 1/2 games while at the same time plunging the Red Sox to third place in the wild-card standings, four games out.

The Yankees beat the Red Sox every which way. They clobbered them (12-4 in the opener on Aug. 18 and 13-5 on Aug. 19); they came from behind (14-11 in the nightcap on Aug. 18, 8-5 in 10 innings on Aug. 20), and they outpitched them (2-1 on Aug. 21). They roughed up Boston's starters (Josh Beckett, 5 2/3 innings, 9 earned runs on Aug. 19) and they hung a blown save on Papelbon (Aug. 20).

By the time New York left Fenway, the giddy Yankees were in control and the Red Sox were numbed, heading to the West Coast.

Rough trip, Part II While a case can be made that the Red Sox' season effectively ended with the Yankees' five-game sweep, Boston still did have 38 games remaining. And the wild card still offered the Sox a route to the playoffs.

But Boston faltered badly, squeezing out a couple of fortunate wins in Anaheim before being swept in back-to-back three-game series by Seattle and Oakland. The 2-7 journey dropped the Red Sox eight games out in the A.L. East and 7 1/2 back in the wild-card standings.

Things got so bad for manager Terry Francona, he messed up the medications he takes and was spitting up blood in Seattle as the clearly irritated manager tried to explain and cover for the absence of Manny Ramirez (patella tendinitis) not only in the everyday lineup but as a pinch-hitting option since a scorer's decision in the Yankee series went against the slugger.

Another day, another player out The plague of second-half injuries began early, with Tim Wakefield (rib fracture) forced to the sidelines after a July 17 start. Nixon and Varitek soon followed.

By the end of dreadful West Coast swing in late August, the Sox were down to one healthy position player on the bench, and that player, catcher Javier Lopez, was so lightly regarded, that he ultimately was released on Sept. 8, only a month after being obtained out of desperation from Baltimore.

On Aug. 29, Ramirez, David Ortiz (heart palpitations) and Wily Mo Pena (wrist) were sent home for further medical tests, with two games remaining on the trip. They joined left-hander Jon Lester (tests that revealed lymphoma) at the hospital.

On Aug. 30, Coco Crisp missed the finale of he trip because of a jammed left shoulder he suffered while making a diving catch the previous night. And in that road-trip finale, while Schilling notched the 3,000th strikeout of his career, he also suffered a strained right latissimus, contributing to an un-ace-like performance (11 hits, 6 runs in 5 1/3 innings).

Wait till next year While mathematically the Red Sox still had chances in the division and the wild card as September rolled around, they seemed to know there would be no miracle ending to this season.

And there wasn't.

skrasner@projo.com / (401) 277-7340