BOSTON — The reminders hang over every member of the Boston Red Sox. At the top of each locker in the home clubhouse at Fenway Park is a nameplate with a logo commemorating the 2018 World Series title. It was the achievement of a lifetime for these Red Sox, and they still cannot quite fathom how it happened with such ease.

“We didn’t lose three games in a row last year,” starter David Price said on Friday. “That’s crazy. That’s nuts. We did everything really well at all times, essentially. I don’t know what we didn’t do really well. We built that feeling up in spring training and we got it rolling right out of the gate.”

Those Red Sox started 17-2. They set a franchise record with 108 victories in the regular season. They romped through October, losing only one game each series. A city that once expected baseball heartbreak now expects championships. For the fourth time in 15 seasons, the Red Sox delivered.

Following up in the same way was bound to be challenging, and so it has been: The Yankees are running away with the American League East, and the Red Sox are stuck in a wild-card scramble. They started 11-17 and have spent months trying to recover.