BOSTON — Joe Girardi could barely disguise his anger. He has spent almost every day of a challenging season staunchly defending his players, whether it has been an embattled superstar like Alex Rodriguez or an unheralded rookie like David Adams.

But after witnessing a sloppy and humiliating performance in a critical game of the season — a 9-2 win by the Boston Red Sox to complete the three-game sweep — Girardi first let his team know of his disappointment with their effort in a stern postgame meeting, then issued the same emphatic message to reporters.

“We stunk here,” he said. “We didn’t play well here. But we’ve got options. We can either continue to stink or play better. If we play better, we have a shot.”

But that shot is dwindling.

The Yankees fell three games behind the Texas Rangers and the Tampa Bay Rays in the hunt for one of the two American League wild-card spots, and four games back in the loss column. Worse, they now have two teams, the Cleveland Indians and the Baltimore Orioles, ahead of them in the wild-card standings with only 12 games to play.