Nick Pivetta had been in cruise control through the first four innings. He’d limited San Diego to three harmless singles, and the Padres hadn’t been able to get anyone past first base.

Then came the top of the fifth, and in the blink of an eye everything went straight to hell.

San Diego handed Boston its worst inning of the season, scoring nine runs in the fifth before the Red Sox had even recorded an out. By the time it was over the Padres had sent 13 men to the plate, tallying eight hits, two walks and two home runs along the way, and the Red Sox couldn’t recover in the eventual 9-2 loss.

Before the game got out of hand Boston struck first and seemed to be in good shape. Wilyer Abreu reached on a single and an error and eventually scored on an RBI single by Connor Wong, who rejoined the team Friday after spending the past few days on paternity leave to be present for the birth of his child.

But things quickly took a turn in the top of the fifth when Ha-Seong Kim led off the inning with a single and Kyle Higashioka immediately put San Diego in front with a two-run home run to make it 2-1 Padres.

As it turned out, San Diego was just getting started.

Following the home run San Diego loaded the bases with no outs after Bryce Johnson doubled, Luis Arraez singled and Jurickson Profar walked. That was all Red Sox manager Alex Cora needed to see, and he gave Pivetta the hook and called right-hander Greg Weissert from the bullpen to put out the fire.

Weissert wasn’t able to get the job done, and he allowed all of Pivetta’s inherited runners to score and then some. First came a two-run single by Jake Cronenworth, then Manny Machado beat out a close play at first, then Donovan Solano singled and finally rookie standout Jackson Merrill delivered the exclamation mark with a towering three-run home run.

Nine men up, nine runs in.

Pivetta was ultimately charged with five runs over four-plus innings and he allowed seven hits and a walk with four strikeouts. The outing was the latest in a troubling trend for the right-hander, marking his fifth start in 12 outings that he’s failed to get through the fifth inning. That includes three of his last four starts, and each of the past two.

Weissert was charged with four runs on four hits and a walk over one inning, and after that Chase Anderson came on and threw four scoreless innings in mop-up duty.

Though the result wasn’t in doubt from the fifth inning on, Rafael Devers did give the home fans something to cheer about when he smoked a solo home run to dead center in the bottom of the sixth. He now has 17 homers on the season, and Friday also marked his third consecutive game with a home run.

This is the second such streak Devers has enjoyed already this season. He previously set a franchise record with six straight games with a home run between May 15-20.

There weren’t many other silver linings for the Red Sox, who have now lost two straight games for the first time since dropping the middle two games of the club’s four-game split with the Chicago White Sox back on June 7-8. Boston will look to bounce back Saturday when Tanner Houck (7-5, 2.18) takes the mound against former Boston College star and Rhode Island native Michael King (5-5, 3.75). First pitch is set for 4:10 p.m.

Bogaerts honored

Though he won’t play this weekend due to a fractured shoulder suffered in May, former Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts made the trip to Boston for his first appearance back at Fenway Park since signing with the San Diego Padres after the 2022 season. Bogaerts was honored by his former club with a tribute video during the second inning, after which he tipped his cap to the crowd and received a huge standing ovation.