This is just mainly because I will argue about anything, but...
You keep referencing the 7 straight losses vs. Yanks and Rays. I get it. That was horrible.
But just to balance out the picture a bit, we actually played 14 in a row vs. the Yanks and Rays.
In the prior 7 we were 5-2. So 5-9 altogether. Still sucks, admittedly. But it's not shocking to go 5-9 in a stretch of 14 games against tough opponents. Happens all the time.
It's just the fact that 7 of the losses were in a row that makes it seem so bad.