Sports

Red Sox collapse complete with loss to Orioles

BALTIMORE — The Red Sox entered the season considered to be the best team in baseball.

They ended it as owners of one of the greatest collapses in the history of baseball.

“This is one for the ages, isn’t it?” Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said.

There’s no other way to describe it. Boston’s shocking 4-3 loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards, combined with Tampa Bay’s incredible 8-7 win in 12 innings over the Yankees, left the Red Sox stunned, and their season over.

The Red Sox entered September leading the American League East, and were one of the favorites to win the World Series. On Sept. 4, they held a nine-game lead over the Rays in the AL wild-card race. But after going 7-19 in their first 26 games in September, the Red Sox and Rays entered last night’s action with identical 91-70 records.

For much of the night, it looked like the Red Sox would be just fine. The Yankees held a commanding 7-0 lead into the late innings against the Rays, and the Red Sox were leading 3-2 after the top of the seventh inning.

But as the Red Sox and Orioles sat out an 86-minute rain delay in the middle of the seventh, the Rays began to fight back against the Yankees. As the Red Sox took the field to resume play in, the scoreboard in center field showed Dan Johnson’s dramatic pinch-hit solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth that tied the game for Tampa Bay.

Still, no matter what was happening in St. Petersburg, Fla., the Red Sox held their destiny in their hands, knowing that a win meant that they would at least be headed to Tampa Bay for a wild-card play-in game.

And the Red Sox gladly would have signed up for the situation in which they found themselves as the bottom of the ninth inning began — with a one-run lead and closer Jonathan Papelbon on the mound.

“We’ve leaned on him for so much,” manager Terry Francona said. “I’d give him the ball again. . . . It just didn’t work.”

After Papelbon quickly retired Adam Jones and Mark Reynolds, Chris Davis roped the first pitch from the closer — a 98 mile per hour fastball — down the right field line for a double, putting the tying run in scoring position.

Nolan Reimold worked the count to 2-2 against Papelbon, then crushed a ball deep into the gap in right-center, where it took one bounce and jumped over the wall to tie the game.

“I was pumped up to be in that situation,” Papelbon said. “Those are the situations that I enjoy.

“On the first double, I was trying to go up and away, and on the second double I was trying to go down and away, and the ball just ran back on me.”

Papelbon then faced Orioles second baseman Robert Andino who, on a 1-1 pitch, hit a soft line drive to left field. Carl Crawford came in on the ball and attempted to make a sliding catch, only to come up just short.

“I thought I had a good play on it,” Crawford said. “It was a tough play. . . . I definitely had to slide on it.”

After missing the catch, Crawford heaved the ball towards the plate, but he never had a chance of catching Reimold, who easily scored to end the game.

Then, as the Red Sox walked into the clubhouse, they learned that Longoria had homered in the bottom of the 12th, and their once promising season had come to an end.

“We can’t sugarcoat this,” Epstein said. “This is awful. We did it to ourselves, and put ourselves in a position for a crazy night like this to end our season.

“It shouldn’t have been this way.”

But somehow, someway, it was. In a month, the Red Sox went from the best team in baseball to authoring one of the greatest collapses the sport has ever seen.

tbontemps@nypost.com