At this rate, it almost would be better if Clay Buchholz was injured.

Then, at least, this would make sense.

But there he was last night, after getting knocked around again like it was batting practice, talking about how good he felt physically, chalking up his problems to rotten luck more than awful pitching.

If you didnt know better, you would have thought Buchholz latest dud five runs (four earned) allowed on nine hits, including two home runs, over 423 innings in the Red Sox sixth consecutive loss, a 6-4 defeat against the Toronto Blue Jays, was just a blip rather than his new norm.

I felt like I had the best stuff in this start, velocity-wise, that Ive had all year, Buchholz said. There is absolutely nothing physically bothering me. Its tough to go out there and, when you miss with one pitch, it gets hit every time. Thats sort of where Im at right now.

Where Buchholz is at is a 6.32 ERA that ranks as the second-highest among all major league pitchers who have thrown at least 40 innings. Only Minnesotas Kevin Correia (6.52) is worse than Buchholz, who has given up 14 runs on 29 hits in his last 15 innings.

The last time he pitched this poorly for this long a nine-start stretch to open 2012 in which he posted a 7.84 ERA he still was concerned about letting loose because of a back injury that eventually ended his season in 2012.

Then, like now, Buchholz strayed from his signature changeup, a pitch he didnt throw at all last week in Minnesota. Last night, 12 of his 90 pitches were changeups, but once again, he relied heavily on his fastball and cutter.

Manager John Farrell, the former pitching coach who helped Buchholz through tough times early in his career, suggested the culprits are inconsistent command caused by flaws in his mechanics. Too many pitches are catching too much of the plate, and hitters have been teeing off rather than swinging and missing.

But Buchholz insisted his mechanics are relatively sound.

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Blue Jays deep-six Red Sox