Reigning champs have questions yet to answer

PHOENIX -- Brian Johnson was tentatively scheduled to pitch Sunday in the series finale against the D-backs, but the Red Sox stopped short of officially naming him the starter.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora wanted to see how Rick Porcello would fare Friday in the series opener and if all went according to plan, Porcello would pitch deep into the game and help his club bounce back from a slow start to the season.

Porcello didn’t make it out of the fifth, the Red Sox lost 15-8 and Plan B is on the table because Johnson pitched. Nobody planned on infielder Eduardo Nunez pitching in the eighth, but that also happened.

With the loss, Boston’s record drops to 2-7 and the questions about the defending World Series champions increase. The last reigning World Series champions to start 2-7 or worse through nine games were the 1998 Marlins, who started 1-8 and eventually fell to 1-11.

“At one point, we will get hot and start playing good baseball,” Cora said. “We’ll look back and say, ‘You know what? That wasn’t fun baseball.’ Like I said, we will be OK.”

The biggest difference between the start this season and last season? The pitching.

Consider this: Through nine games last season, the Red Sox scored 42 runs and allowed 26. They allowed only five home runs. This season, the club has scored 41 runs and allowed 67, including 16 home runs by the starters, the most in the Major Leagues, in the same span.

The starters’ ERA at this point last year was 1.70. It’s 9.60 now, also the highest in the big leagues.

“We know we are going to pitch,” Cora said. “We just have to figure it out somehow, some way. As soon as we start pitching, we will be fine.”

The manager acknowledged the recent stretch is the biggest challenge the club has faced since he took over last season. He’s also not going to panic.

“It is, but we will be OK,” he said. “We will keep working, and we understand that we are not playing good baseball but it’s a tough spot right now, but we will be OK.”

The Red Sox took an early lead in the third on an RBI double by Andrew Benintendi, but the D-backs answered with a run in the bottom half of the frame. Ketel Marte’s home run off Porcello highlighted a four-run fourth inning to put the D-backs ahead 5-1.

In the fifth, Adam Jones extended Arizona’s lead to five runs with a home run, and Alex Avila’s RBI double marked the end of Porcello’s night. In the end, the right-hander was charged with seven runs on 10 hits, including two knocks to D-backs starter Zack Godley -- in 4 2/3 innings. Godley had three hits total in 65 plate appearances last season, and had never had a multi-hit game.

It’s been a difficult start to the season for Porcello. He gave up nine runs -- only four of which were earned -- on six hits in 2 2/3 innings in his season debut against the Mariners on Sunday. He took his frustration out on a cooler in the dugout.

“I’m not doing my job right now,” Porcello said. “I don’t take that lightly, and I’ll do whatever I can to get back on track this week for my next [start]. This one is on me, and I take full responsibility for my first two starts. I’m not throwing the ball the way I need to.”

Johnson allowed seven runs on six hits -- including a grand slam to Marte -- in 1 1/3 innings. For his part, Nunez became the first Red Sox position player to pitch in a game since Mitch Moreland in 2017, and the answer to a trivia question. He allowed a solo homer to Avila in the eighth.

“Part of it is baseball, and you go through ups and downs,” Porcello said. “Teams are ready to play us right now, and we have to be ready to answer back. That’s the bottom line right now.”

One more pitching question remains unanswered: Who is starting Sunday?