NEW YORK –– His tiny office crammed with reporters, Terry Francona reviewed Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the Yankees with uncharacteristically blunt language.

Ordinarily, Francona dismisses defeats with a promise to regroup tomorrow. But the nature of this cruel setback, in which the Red Sox wasted a masterful pitching performance by Jon Lester, seemed to sting the manager more than usual.

“This one hurts,” he said. “We played our hearts out and lost a really tough game.”

He labeled the loss “hard to take.”

And, still, the worst was yet to come. Minutes after Francona delivered his post-mortem, general manager Theo Epstein produced the really ominous news.

Josh Beckett would not be starting as planned Friday night, after all. His elbow, which had sidelined him twice already on this road trip, was not yet 100 percent.

Then Epstein uttered the three words to which pitchers never want to be associated: Dr. . . . James . . . Andrews.

Beckett will fly to Birmingham, Ala., Friday morning and visit with the famed orthopedist. The Sox insist the visit is merely for Beckett’s "peace of mind," but then their track record is not exactly spotless in this matter. Recall that 10 days ago Beckett was scratched from a start in Baltimore because, said the Sox, he slept awkwardly on his prized right arm, resulting in tingling and numbness in the fingers of his right hand. Only days later did the Sox admit the problems were, in truth, rooted in inflammation of the right elbow, a more disconcerting diagnosis.

As recently as two days ago, when Beckett successfully completed a 50-pitch side session here, the Red Sox were borderline ecstatic with the results.

Then late Thursday afternoon, 26 hours before his next scheduled start, he was scratched again, even though the numbness and tingling hadn’t recurred.

“The elbow itself doesn’t feel 100 percent,” according to Epstein.

“We’re pretty optimistic this is getting better,” Epstein later added.

Maybe the Red Sox are telling the truth now; time will tell. But what seems unassailable is that this is potentially disastrous news.

With a healthy Beckett, the Sox must be viewed as one of the two teams to beat in the American League in October. Without Beckett, or without him at 100 percent, they are a merely ordinary postseason entry.

Catcher Jason Varitek politely pointed out that without Beckett’s contributions, the Sox just completed their most successful road trip of the season, winning three consecutive road series.

“He’s missed a few starts and we’ve still been able to put ourselves in good position,” said Varitek. “We’ve had a lot of injuries to deal with all year. We just have to deal with this and play games. Hopefully, things will go well. He’s missed – obviously."

The Sox might be able to get through the final 29 regular-season games without Beckett. A forgiving schedule offers just nine more games away from home and presents three more off-days in September, easing the burden on the rest of the pitching staff.

But there will be no getting by in October, when Beckett is 6-2 lifetime with a World Series MVP trophy to prove his postseason mettle. Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka may constitute a deep and talented rotation, but neither has Beckett’s postseason resume.

“If we get him back,” said Varitek, “that will be an added bonus.”

If they don’t, they’re in deep trouble.

Who knew that such a soul-crushing loss to their foundering rivals yesterday would only constitute the second-worse development of the day?