BOSTON — Seeing pitcher William Cuevas make his major league debut was heartening, knowing how far he’s climbed through the Red Sox system, including a lengthy stop in Portland last year.

But what in the world was he doing on the mound in the eighth inning of a tie game, having already pitched two innings?

That’s how thin this Red Sox pitching staff is?

“We had a number of guys who were unavailable,” Manager John Farrell said after a 12-8 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

No Junichi Tazawa. No Robbie Ross. No Heath Hembree. Only Koji Uehara, if Boston was ahead. Farrell didn’t say so but we assume the same for Craig Kimbrel.

Farrell and his Red Sox went into Thursday’s game needing a solid start. Farrell even joked before that “I’ll sign up for a complete game.”

Farrell could be confident. He had ace David Price on the mound, the man who held the hard-hitting Toronto Blue Jays to two runs over seven innings in his last start.

These were the Tampa Bay Rays, the worst-hitting team in the American League.

But Price, the man with the $217 million contact, lasted 32/3 innings, allowing eight runs. Matt Barnes pitched 21/3 innings before Cuevas was summoned.

“Cuevas would have to give us multiple innings if we didn’t get a deep start, and that’s what took place today,” Farrell said.

In case of emergency, call on the rookie who has never pitched in the big leagues.

Cuevas looked composed. He mixed a 92 mph fastball with a change-up, going 21/3 innings (three hits, two walks, two runs).

“The numbers don’t say it but it went pretty well,” Cuevas said. “I threw the pitches I needed to.”

Even Cuevas said he was surprised to be sent out in the eighth. “But I just kept fighting.”

Cuevas did not have a put-away pitch (no strikeouts), and the Tampa Bay batters battled their way to walks and hits.

Noe Ramirez followed, making his fourth appearance in five days, and gave up two runs.

These new-and-improved Red Sox are supposed to be throwing gas. But they’re gassed.

Boston leads the American League with 56 innings thrown by relievers.

Getting an ace like Price was supposed to ease the bullpen’s burden – especially after the offense gives you a 5-1 lead in the first inning.

“That’s not fun for me. I know I’m better than that,” Price said. “Whenever you get five runs in the bottom half of the first inning, it’s unacceptable.”

Price repeated what he said after the home opener, when he allowed five runs in five innings: “I just didn’t execute … I’ve just got to get better.”

How bad was Price’s execution? Ask his former Rays teammate, Evan Longoria, who homered and doubled off him.

“A lot of the hits that he gave up were balls that he missed pretty significantly in the middle of the plate,” Longoria said. “From a hitting standpoint, you hope to capitalize and we did a good job of that today.”

Price routinely starts the season slow. His worst career month is April with a 3.90 ERA.

But right now that ERA is 7.06, with a team that already has a shaky rotation and fatigued bullpen.

There was hope, with catcher Christian Vazquez back handling the pitchers, that improvement was coming. Rick Porcello is 3-0, albeit with a 4.66 ERA.

But Joe Kelly is now out. And Clay Buchholz has had one good outing in three starts.

Offensively, there’s no problem. The Red Sox lead the league in runs. They scored eight runs on 15 hits Thursday.

“We didn’t miss the pitches we got,” said Dustin Pedroia, who was 3 for 6 with his first home run of the year.

Boston is supposed to be tough at Fenway, but went 4-6 on its first homestand, all against division opponents.

“We want to play better,” Pedroia said. “We’re starting to get into the grind of the season and figuring out what type of team we have, and we have a good one.

“It’s a matter of going out and finding ways to win games, and we’re going to do that.”

Applaud Pedroia’s optimism. Maybe the rotation will eventually find some consistency and endurance, so it does not drain its relievers.

But there is little room for error and little depth to depend on.

David Price needs to pitch like an ace. He fell far short Thursday.

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