Editing Boston Red Sox (section)

====2008–2012: Injuries and collapses====
The Red Sox began their season by participating in the third opening day game in MLB history to be played in Japan, where they defeated the [[2008 Oakland Athletics season|Oakland A's]] in the [[Tokyo Dome]]. On May 19, Jon Lester threw the 18th no-hitter in team history, defeating the [[2008 Kansas City Royals season|Kansas City Royals]] 7–0. Down the stretch, outfielder [[Manny Ramirez]] became embroiled in controversy surrounding public incidents with fellow players and other team employees, as well as criticism of ownership and not playing, which some claimed was due to laziness and nonexistent injuries. The front office decided to move the disgruntled outfielder at the July 31 trade deadline, shipping him to the Dodgers in a three-way deal with the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] that landed them [[Jason Bay]] to replace him in left field.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Shaughnessy|first=Dan|url=https://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2008/08/01/going_going_gone/|title=Going, going, gone|work=The Boston Globe|date=August 1, 2008}}</ref> With Ramirez gone, and Bay providing a new spark in the lineup, the Red Sox improved vastly and made the playoffs as the AL Wild Card. The Red Sox defeated the [[2008 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim season|Angels]] in the [[2008 American League Division Series|2008 ALDS]] three games to one. The Red Sox then took on their AL East rivals the [[2008 Tampa Bay Rays season|Tampa Bay Rays]] in the [[2008 American League Championship Series|ALCS]]. Down three games to one in the 5th game of the ALCS, Boston mounted a comeback from trailing 7–0 in the 7th inning to win 8–7.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=281016102 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020034739/http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=281016102 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 20, 2008 |title=Drew's game-winning hit keeps Red Sox alive in ALCS|agency=[[Associated Press]] |publisher=[[ESPN]]|date=October 16, 2008|access-date=October 17, 2008}}</ref><ref name=17alcs>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/sports/baseball/17alcs.html|title=Down by 7–0, Red Sox Force a Game 6|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=October 17, 2008|first=Jack|last=Curry|author-link=Jack Curry|date=October 17, 2008}}</ref> They tied the series at three games apiece with a Game 6 victory before losing Game 7, 3–1, thus becoming the eighth team in a row since 2000 to fail to repeat as World Series champions.

The Red Sox returned to postseason play in 2009 but were swept in the ALDS by the [[2009 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim season|Los Angeles Angels]]. In 2010, they placed third in the division and failed to make the playoffs. In 2011, the [[2011 Boston Red Sox season#Collapse|Red Sox collapsed]], becoming the first team in MLB history to blow a 9-game lead in the division heading into September, going 7–20 in the final month and failing again to make the playoffs. In December 2011, [[Bobby Valentine]] was hired as a new manager. The 2012 season marked the centennial of [[Fenway Park]], and on April 20, past and present Red Sox players and coaches assembled to celebrate the park's anniversary. However, the collapse that they endured in September 2011 carried over into the season. The Red Sox struggled throughout the season due to injuries, inconsistent play, and off-field news. They finished 69–93 for their first losing season since 1997 and their worst season since 1965.

[[File:Massachusetts State House Red Sox Banner.JPG|thumb|The [[Massachusetts State House]] displaying a banner in honor of the Red Sox's [[2013 World Series]] appearance. '''"B Strong"''' was a patch worn by the Red Sox in memory of [[Boston Marathon bombing]] victims.]]