It wasn’t the start the Red Sox had planned for right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, much less the day after Martín Pérez recorded only four outs in his start.

Manager Alex Cora laid out his hopes for Eovaldi’s start prior to Friday’s series opener against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. The right-hander had been riding a tough stretch of his own, with an 0-2 record and 4.94 ERA in his last four starts. He was being called upon to go deep into the game, as well as give the Red Sox an opportunity to right the ship after having lost seven of their last 10 games.

“It'll be good for him to go deep into the game,” Cora said during Boston’s pregame Zoom. “He's a guy that we rely on. Obviously, we got to do a few things better, but, hopefully, we can get a good outcome from Nate and give us a chance to win the game.”

Things didn’t pan out that way, as the Blue Jays beat the Red Sox, 12-4. After the Red Sox claimed the lead with a sacrifice fly in the fourth by Xander Bogaerts and an RBI single from Kiké Hernández in the fifth, the game unraveled for Eovaldi in the home half of the fifth.

"What's the most frustrating part is they've given me the lead and I feel like I've let this team down, so to speak," Eovaldi said. "I've got to do a better job of managing the game, especially tonight. I felt like I was in control and the bottom part of the lineup got to me.”

The 31-year-old was tagged for seven earned runs on six hits in the inning alone, as the Blue Jays put up nine runs in the contentious frame. When Hansel Robles took over for Eovaldi on the mound with two outs, the right-hander plunked Randal Grichuk, leading to home plate umpire Jim Wolf warning both teams.

The two teams nearly cleared the benches as players exchanged words in a heated back-and-forth as the managers approached the field.

“They thought there was intention when [Robles] hit Grichuk, and there were some words exchanged from the dugout,” said Cora of rushing to the mound. “I know [Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo] came out, obviously defending his player. That was the whole thing. I was trying to avoid whatever more words to be shouted and try to control the situation.”

Boston’s starting rotation has fallen flat, as of late. In the 10 previous games entering Friday’s match, the rotation posted an ERA of 7.81 in 40 2/3 innings. It has coincided with the Red Sox woes since the All-Star break as they’ve gone 9-11 in the second-half.

"At the beginning of the year we kind of hit that rut offensively, but the team staff was able to pick us up,” Eovaldi said. “Then when we hit the rut on the pitching side, the offense picked us up.

“Right now we're kind of both struggling at the same time after the All-Star break. We're a team, we're gonna get through this together and it's just gonna take that one person to step up for us and right the ship.”

Boston’s offense didn’t have an answer for Alek Manoah and the four relievers who followed. Though the lineup collected eight hits, including Hunter Renfroe's two-run homer in the sixth, the four runs on the board weren’t nearly enough.

As Eovaldi explained, both sides of the team are struggling unlike any other time during the season. But now the Red Sox are reaching a point where the struggles can’t be ignored in the standings. Though they have one of the better records in MLB at 64-47, the loss moves Boston to 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Rays in the American League East.

"I know it's not about a lack of effort, a lack of focus, a lack of work. It's none of that," said Bogaerts, who went 0-for-3. "Maybe we should try harder, because apparently what we're doing right now is not enough.”