TORONTO -- What had seemed obvious for some time now became certified shortly after 9:40 p.m. Wednesday night: when the regular season ends Sunday night, the Red Sox will be free of any October commitments.

Yet another second-half collapse had left them with the slimmest of hopes in recent weeks. They had circled their second-to-last home series of the year with Minnesota as their Last Stand. Sweep the Twins, went the thinking, and the last week might become very interesting.