ARLINGTON, Texas -- With one out in the sixth inning on Sunday, Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell made a beeline from the dugout to the mound and abruptly grabbed the ball out of starter Clay Buchholz's right hand.

Quite clearly, Farrell had seen enough.

From Buchholz. From the entire team.

Rough week? You might say that.

Since ace David Price twirled a Father's Day gem at Fenway Park, the Red Sox have dropped five of the past seven games. They weren't winless during that stretch but for the grace of a walk-off victory on Thursday against the Chicago White Sox and an improbable two-out comeback in the ninth inning on Friday night against the Texas Rangers.

Like a ship at sea, the Red Sox are listing. With Sunday's 6-2 loss to the American League-best Rangers, they slid to four games off the Baltimore Orioles' pace in the AL East, marking their largest deficit in the standings since April 12, although they still lead the wild-card race. Their positional depth has been depleted by injuries, and the pitching -- their Achilles' heel since spring training -- is as unreliable as ever, the starters having combined to allow 30 runs in their last 28⅔ innings.

It was no wonder, then, that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski spent nearly an hour in Farrell's office on Sunday evening before the team boarded a bus to the airport and a flight to Tampa, Florida. There's little doubt the Red Sox need reinforcements, but with the non-waiver trade deadline still a month away, Dombrowski said "it's too early" to swing any reasonable deal that could help the situation.

"I can tell you I've done a great deal of work, and there's five clubs that are willing to talk about [trades]," Dombrowski said. "It's the same five clubs who have been at it all year. So, it's a little early for that type of situation. We'll see what happens."

If Dombrowski wanted to, he could call up the Atlanta Braves and try to overwhelm them with a package for 25-year-old right-hander Julio Teheran. The Minnesota Twins almost certainly would take a prospect for right-hander Ervin Santana. Heck, if the Red Sox were willing to empty the farm system and sacrifice prized second-base prospect Yoan Moncada and can't-miss center fielder Andrew Benintendi, the Oakland A's might bite on ace Sonny Gray.

But Dombrowski isn't ready to go there yet. Not until the cavalry comes in.

Super utilityman Brock Holt (concussion), catcher Ryan Hanigan (neck strain), left fielder/catcher Blake Swihart (sprained left ankle) and left fielder Chris Young (right hamstring strain) are among those on a crowded disabled list. Their absence has left the bench perilously thin.

On Sunday, with slugger David Ortiz needing to rest his balky feet and heels, Farrell was forced to field a lineup that included Triple-A veterans Bryce Brentz at designated hitter and Ryan LaMarre in left field. Farrell said shortstop Xander Bogaerts is "tired" after starting 57 consecutive games, a factor that has contributed to his three errors in the past four games. But resting Bogaerts would have required putting utility infielder Marco Hernandez in the lineup too.

No offense intended, especially after Brentz hit his first major league home run in the sixth inning on Sunday, but this is no way to spark a high-powered offense that hasn't exactly been clicking at full capacity over the past month.

There's a chance Holt could return this week. Hanigan might not be far behind. And when the Red Sox get closer to full strength, Dombrowski figures to get a better read on how aggressive he should be about finding the pitching help they need to at least have a chance to qualify for a winner-take-all wild-card game.

"We're scuffling right now. It's just the way it is," Dombrowski said. "We're not pitching very well, but we're not playing very well overall. We need to snap out of it."

Asked if the Red Sox have enough depth internally to stop the slide without the help of a trade, he said, "We'll see."

"The problem you run into is that some of those [injured] players are anticipated to be back relatively soon," Dombrowski continued, "so you can't go out and make a trade for some positional player and give up one of your top prospects for a two-week or a week type of situation. We need to pitch better. We need to play better."

And soon. Otherwise, the Red Sox won't give Dombrowski much reason to believe the risk of making a blockbuster trade doesn't outweigh the potential reward.