Toronto’s Rod Barajas slides past Red Sox catcher Kevin Cash and scores in the seventh inning of yesterday’s game at Fenway.

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The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

BOSTON –– It was only one bad loss in the middle of August, not a game that is likely to be pivotal in the Red Sox’ season. Still, it was the way Boston fell to Toronto, 15-4, yesterday that made for some uneasy feelings in Red Sox Nation.

For those looking long term, it was an awful day. It certainly does not bode well for how the Sox are setting up for the stretch run and then, possibly, the playoffs.

So many things went wrong that it was easy to come away with the feeling that the team simply is not as good as it was last season.

The biggest concern is Josh Beckett. He showed once again that, for whatever reason, he is not the same pitcher. He is not the same guy who won 20 games last time around, an ace who could be depended upon whenever he took the mound.

Beckett has not been the same all year, not since being slowed in spring training by back and hip problems. Yesterday, he was downright bad.

He was ripped for eight runs in 2 1/3 innings, his shortest outing in more than two years. The eight earned runs were the most he has given up all season, and they pushed his ERA up to 4.34. He now has allowed 72 earned runs in 149 1/3 innings. Last year, he yielded 73 in 200 2/3 innings.

“They hit pitches that were bad pitches; they caught too much of the plate and they were up,” Beckett said. “You can get away with catching a little bit too much of the plate if you’re down, on some days. But today it was middle of the plate and up. They were just really, really bad pitches. Good pitches to hit.”

With Curt Schilling gone, and with Beckett not working the way he did last year, the Sox’ starting pitching does not set up for the playoffs nearly as well as last season. And it’s not just the rotation.

The bullpen had a bad day, too. Six relievers followed Beckett, and every one except Jonathan Papelpon gave up at least a run. Toronto pounded out 22 hits, the most Boston has allowed all season. They included a team-record 10 doubles. Alex Rios had four of the doubles and five hits in all. Former Providence College star John McDonald added three hits and three RBI.

Beckett was not the only Boston pitcher with problems.

“The fastballs he threw ran back over the middle and they were elevated,” Francona said of Beckett. “We spent the majority of the day doing that. . . We threw a lot of fastballs that caught way too much of the plate.”

David Aardsma came on for Beckett in the third and Mike Timlin was on the mound in the fourth. Hideki Okajima pitched the eighth, the role he handled so well last year, but he allowed three runs on five hits.

On the way to the World Series title last time around, everyone in the bullpen had defined roles. Not this time. The ’pen gave up 17 runs and allowed two inherited runners to score on this homestand alone. And that’s in only five games.

The bad vibes went beyond pitching problems.

J.D. Drew ran into an out when he took off from second base on a liner to center by Alex Cora in the second and could not get back when Vernon Wells made the catch. That turned it into a double play.

The defense did not have a good day, either. The usually reliable Kevin Youkilis could not cleanly play a hard grounder by Brad Wilkerson in the first. Instead of a likely inning-ending double play, the Sox got only one out, extending the inning. McDonald made Boston pay, ripping a double into the gap in left-center for the last two runs in Toronto’s six-run first.

Understandably, the mood was not pleasant as the Sox dressed and headed out for a nine-game road trip.

“That was a butt whipping, that’s my quote,” said Dustin Pedroia, who hit his 12th home run on his 25th birthday for one of the few Boston highlights.

After the trip, which begins tonight in Baltimore, the schedule turns very much in Boston’s favor in September. The Sox still have to be considered strong favorites to be playing baseball again in October. But days like yesterday give Sox fans much less enthusiasm for the postseason than in 2007.

pkenyon@projo.com