The Red Sox needed Daniel Bard in the eighth inning Tuesday night.

Yes, you could find Bard in that eighth frame. Understood. Having thrown 86 pitches, and retired 15 of 17 batters since enduring a most uneven three-run second inning, the starter was justifiably back on the mound to start the eighth with his team carrying a one-run lead.

But that's not the pitcher we're talking about.

What the Red Sox needed after Bard issued back-to-back walks to start the frame was the pitcher that had been so, so valuable in such situations over the past few years. The old Daniel Bard, the kind of pitcher who wasn't seemingly available once again when the Sox needed it the most.

And this isn't just about Billy Butler hitting a three-run homer off Matt Albers to help the Royals hand the Red Sox a 6-4 loss. That was simply a reminder of the challenge this team faces -- finding a replacement for Bard in the eighth inning.

As of late, the bullpen has been really good, and Albers has deserved some late-inning faith. But, as Butler's bat pointed out, there are still some things to figure out. The Red Sox' numbers in the eighth inning this season: 7.45 ERA, .301 batting average against, .916 OPS, and 22 walks in 29 innings. Statistically, it is the pitching staff's worst inning of all nine.

Understand, this is not another plea move Bard back into the bullpen so that this kind of eighth-inning conundrum can be solved. He has shown enough  to suggest his value is more in the form being the kind of top-of-the-rotation talent the Red Sox will so desperately need if they are going to make any sort of run.

This is about finding something along the lines of what Bard delivered in the eighth these past few years.

Since the start of 2009, only two pitchers in baseball -- Mike Adams and Tyler Clippard -- have thrown more eighth-inning pitches than Bard. And there he was again Tuesday night, heading into the eighth. But this was different. This wasn't quite as comforting for the Red Sox.

First off, even with the relatively low pitch count, the image given off by Bard heading into the inning wasn't the same as years past. He had finished off the seventh in familiar fashion -- rearing back and firing a 96 mph fastball past pinch-hitter Brayan Pena to strand runners on second and third. That was the late-inning pitcher most had come to know over the past three seasons.

But the reality was that Pena's strikeout marked just the second time all season Bard has gotten a swinging third strike on a pitch 96 mph or better. And the punchout was also the only one of the game, giving him six strikeouts per nine innings this season, compared to nine the past two years.

By the time both Jarrod Dyson and Alex Gordon drew free passes, Bard's arm angle had dropped down, his pitches had flattened out, and his command had left him. It was certainly excusable considering the moment marked the first instance of the pitcher entering the eighth inning as a starter. But it also led to the reminder that this year's eighth innings might be a bit different than what we witnessed last year.

"I felt great. I felt strong. You get to 90 pitches, I'm not tired to the point where I need to come out of the game by any means. But there is a fatigue that sets in, and it's about learning how to pitch with that little bit of fatigue," Bard told reporters. "It’s not my arm; my arm felt great. It’s your whole body -- your legs, your lower back, everything. Just learn how to pitch in those conditions. That's kind of where I'm at right now -- trying to learn how to finish games and get through that 100 to 110 pitches strong all the way through the end instead of tailing off and losing command late.

"Definitely. I was just trying to do too much. I smelled the finish line and wanted to get that win for our team really bad. I was just trying to do too much with those pitches and maybe didn’t trust them to the middle of the zone like maybe I had been."

Albers' plight was a situation Bard was in 16 times in '11 -- second and third in the eighth inning with nobody out. And it wasn't as if he was flawless, either, when coming in to put out those fires. He had also allowed a game-breaking home run on Aug. 1 last season against Cleveland in a similar situation. (Opponents would go 3-for-14 with three walks in total.)

And the fact was Albers wasn't a terrible choice in this situation, either. He entered with a batting average against of .188, having allowed just one home run. In his previous seven outings, the righty had allowed no runs and just three hits over 9 2/3 innings, with right-handed hitters (like Butler) going 1-for-14.

The only other eighth-inning option in this case might have been Franklin Morales. But with right-handed hitters totaling a .370 batting average against the lefty this season -- and Morales being much more of a fly ball pitcher than Albers -- that didn't seem the way to go.

As of now, it appears as though Vicente Padilla would be the usual go-to guy in such situations in the eighth inning. He has stranded all nine of his inherited runners this season, and has thrown the second-most eighth-inning pitches (behind only Morales) of any pitcher on the Sox. 

In the eighth this season, the righty has allowed five hits in 15 at-bats, walking two. In total, Padilla has pitched in five eighth innings this season, getting through a clean frame just once (April 8 in Detroit).

But Padilla threw 39 pitches the night before, so he was unavailable. 

"I don’t think there’s an alternative," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine told reporters of his decision to bring in Albers. "He’s pitched great."

The solution heading into the season was Mark Melancon, and he may very well be one in the future. After a horrific four-game stint with the Sox to begin the season, he has seemingly found his way in Triple-A, allowing just seven hits and no runs while striking out 15 and not walking a batter in eight appearances.

Another interesting option may be Andrew Miller, who has been striking out batters at an alarming rate -- first in the minors and now in his brief stint with the Red Sox. After fanning 23 in 11 innings with Triple-A Pawtucket, the lefty has struck out four of the batters he has faced since being promoted.

The Red Sox have some pieces in this 'pen, but getting them in the right places before it's too late will continue to be the challenge. Tuesday night, the pieces didn't quite fit.