|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 4, 2021 18:02:27 GMT -5
Sox win 1-0 put on a movie folks dont waste your time with NY
|
|
|
Post by scrappyunderdog on Jul 4, 2021 21:04:33 GMT -5
Huge game from Pivetta. Every time one of these fringy guys has a bad game, like last game with 6 ERs in 4.1 IPs, I wonder if this is where the reversion sets in. But great start.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 5, 2021 2:31:22 GMT -5
Pivetta's brilliant day gives Sox series win July 4th, 2021 Justice delos Santos
Justice delos Santos @justdelossantos
OAKLAND -- As the ball soared high into the cloudless sky, Nick Pivetta turned his back to the play and began walking off the field. He pumped his right hand several times, a subtle display of swagger. He knew that the fly ball would be caught, that his afternoon would end on his own terms, that his masterpiece was complete.
Pivetta bounced back from the worst start of the season with his best in the Red Sox’s 1-0 win over the A’s on Sunday at Oakland Coliseum, throwing a season-high seven innings of shutout ball with a season-high 10 strikeouts. And while the matinee lacked offensive fireworks, Pivetta compensated with his enticing displays of emotion.
“There’s nothing wrong with showing emotion. Nothing wrong with that,” manager Alex Cora said. “It’s him getting us going. We enjoy it. We like it. We don’t mind it. There’s a lot of people that do that and I think he shows emotion -- he cares.”
The showmanship was on display early and often. After striking out Jed Lowrie to end the first inning and strand runners on second and third, Pivetta emphatically slapped his chest. Pivetta used that same “walk to the dugout with the ball still in the air” move earlier in the game, doing so after getting Elvis Andrus to fly out to end the third inning.
The right-hander was also privy to some hopscotch-esque moves. Pivetta struck out Matt Olson, who had just been named an All-Star before his plate appearance, to end the sixth, then jumped over the first-base line and brought his knee up to his chest. To Pivetta’s teammates, it’s nothing new.
“He has a really bad poker face, you could say,” said J.D. Martinez, who was also named to the All-Star roster on Sunday, alongside teammates Nathan Eovaldi and Matt Barnes. “He shows his emotions for everything in the clubhouse and on the field.”
“He brings emotion to the equation,” Cora said. “It’s not only when he pitches. He’s out there the other four days pulling for his teammates. He’s very intense. He loves winning.”
The Red Sox were more than happy to see Pivetta strut his stuff across seven quality innings because it was a game where he needed to be sharp.
Pitching for Oakland was rookie James Kaprielian, who also turned in seven stellar innings of one-run ball with a career-high 10 strikeouts. The lone run Boston squeezed out of Kaprielian came when Rafael Devers grounded into a double play with Alex Verdugo, who had two doubles on the afternoon, on third base. Pivetta was just a tad sharper.
“He’s got a fastball at the top of the zone and a curveball that comes out of the same plane,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “Then, he’s got a slider he throws in off-count and behind in the count. Mixes in changeups just enough to stay unpredictable."
Pivetta’s stellar outing not only helped win the game, but had the dual effect of helping preserve Boston’s bullpen. In Friday and Saturday’s extra-inning affairs, Boston’s relievers combined to pitch 10 1/3 innings. Thanks to Pivetta’s lengthy outing, Cora only had to utilize Garrett Whitlock for the hold and Barnes for the save -- which the All-Star reliever capped with his 500th career strikeout.
“The bullpen’s been there for me a lot this year,” Pivetta said. “I was just doing my part right back for them.”
Boston’s bullpen, as well as the team as a whole, would certainly love to watch Pivetta shove as he did to begin the season. In his first eight starts of the year, Pivetta had a 3.16 ERA across 42 2/3 innings. In his next eight starts, Pivetta had a 5.70 ERA across, coincidentally enough, 42 2/3 innings. Sunday’s outing, then, was a step forward.
Should Pivetta continue stringing these quality outings together, his teammates will get to continue to relish in the passion he displays.
“I’m an emotional and energized guy,” Pivetta said. “I really care about everybody on this team. I really want to do good for them every single day and I want to show up for them. I want to pump them up, too.”
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 5, 2021 3:18:39 GMT -5
Red Sox’ Nick Pivetta keeps the A’s in check By Julian Benbow Globe Staff,Updated July 4, 2021, 7:04 p.m.
When Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta’s 3-2 curveball to Oakland Athletic Ramon Laureano just missed the inside of the plate, Pivetta dropped to one knee as though wishing he could have willed the pitch back to the black.
Pivetta was putting together his best outing of the season, a bounce-back after going just 4⅓ innings against the Royals last week.
Between two hits and two walks, the A’s had only scrounged up four baserunners against him. Pivetta wanted to finish the job in the seventh inning.
His teammates huddled around Pivetta on the mound along with pitching coach Dave Bush. With a moment to gather himself, he got back to work. He got A’s right fielder Seth Brown to fly out to center field on an 0-and-1 fastball and walked back to the dugout satisfied.
“It was his game there in the seventh inning,” said Sox manager Alex Cora. “We’ve been talking about that the whole time, how we’ve got to take care of the starters early on. They’re going to keep building up and building up and there’s going to be a time that we’re going to let them go. It seemed like his stuff was getting better throughout the start. It was needed. We were very short bullpen-wise.”
Pivetta gave the Sox his longest outing of the season, a scoreless seven-inning gem in a razor-thin 1-0 win, sparing the Sox bullpen with the team still in the thick of a stretch of 16 games in as many days.
“The bullpen’s been there for me a lot this year, so I was just doing my part right back for them,” Pivetta said. “I think it’s a team effort every single day. And that’s who we are. We’re a great team, and we’re just going to keep moving forward and picking each other up whenever.”
Pivetta finished with a career-high 10 strikeouts, using all four of his pitches to keep the A’s lineup wobbly in the box. He overpowered A’s leadoff man Tony Kemp in the first at-bat of the game, striking him out on three pitches and getting him to wave at his curveball. No one else in the A’s lineup had any answers. Kemp struck out twice. So did Jed Lowrie. The only A’s hitter who survived the day without a K was Matt Chapman, who went 1 for 3 with a single in the first inning.
“He set the tempo right away in the first inning, he struck out the side,” Cora said. “He understands where we’re at. There’s certain days that those guys, they have to go deep into the game. They see what’s going on, and he stepped up to the challenge. He did an amazing job.”
The Sox lineup had issues of its own with A’s starter James Kaprielian, who struck out 10 over seven innings. But they were able to give Pivetta a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning. Alex Verdugo delivered a leadoff double and J.D. Martinez followed up with a line-drive single that set up a first-and-third situation. Rafael Devers grounded into a double play, but Verdugo was able to score the run that proved to be the difference.
Pivetta picked up his first win since May 26 when he went six innings against Atlanta. The Sox lost four of his six starts in June after winning nine of his 10 starts in April and May.
Pivetta spent the month getting hammered by homers. Nine of the 13 homers he’s allowed this season came in June and 15 of the 17 runs he had allowed over his previous five starts came via the long ball.
Facing Oakland for the first time in his career, Pivetta threw 101 pitches, 65 for strikes. Cora said it was his best outing of the season, given the situation — and that included the 6⅔ no-hit innings he threw in Tampa last month.
Pivetta tried to keep things in perspective.
“I think it’s an exciting game for me, but I’m just going to stay where I’m at,” Pivetta said. “I’m not going to try to say this is the best or this the worst. There’s always going to be better and there’s always room for improvement, I think. So I’m just going to chalk this up as a good start, very happy with the way things went but hungry for more.”
Garrett Whitlock took over in the eighth and worked around a one-out single by Sean Murphy to preserve the narrow lead. Matt Barnes came on in the ninth and gave up a leadoff single to Matt Olson then a one-out walk to Lowrie and found himself in a first-and-third jam with two outs, but he struck out Brown to end the game and pick up his 19th save of the season.
In taking two of three from the A’s, the Sox have won nine of their last ten as they head to Los Angeles to finish up their six-game road trip against the Angels.
“We’re playing good baseball right now,” Cora said. “That’s a really good team. The fact that we came here and we beat them in two out of three, it feels good. They will be in the hunt, they’re going to be there throughout the summer and we will too.”
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 5, 2021 3:20:45 GMT -5
Nick Pivetta in a zone while dominating Oakland By Peter Abraham Globe Staff,Updated July 4, 2021, 8:47 p.m.
OAKLAND, Calif. — The ball was still in the air when Nick Pivetta turned sharply and walked off the mound, pounding his right fist into his chest as he approached the dugout knowing his work for the day was done.
The Red Sox righthander probably should have been watching the play just in case the ball dropped in. But when his emotions take hold, Pivetta marches on.
And why not? Pivetta pitched seven dominant innings against the Oakland Athletics on Sunday, allowing two singles and striking out 10 in a game the Sox won, 1-0.
“He gets in a zone, and we love it,” manager Alex Cora said.
Pivetta doesn’t hide who he is when he takes the field. His body language delivers an oration of smiles, smirks, scowls, and snarls.
A big strikeout of Matt Olson to leave a runner stranded in the sixth inning had Pivetta doing a high-stepping boogie before he jumped over the first base line.
In a stadium where Dennis Eckersley’s retired No. 43 hangs in the stands behind the plate, Pivetta was the baddest man in town and let it show the same way Eck once did.
“I’m an emotional and energized guy,” Pivetta said. “I really care about everybody on this team. I really want to do good for them every single day. I want to show up for them. I want to pump them up, too.
“I want to be energetic and have fun … it’s just me being me.”
There’s nothing wrong with that, too. As baseball gets less buttoned-down, players like Pivetta are fun to watch.
“It’s not that he’s showing up the opponent, it’s him getting us going,” Cora said. “We enjoy it. He cares.”
Pivetta is 9-3 with a 3.87 earned run average in 19 starts for the Sox since being obtained from Philadelphia last season.
Of all the savvy moves Chaim Bloom has made in the last year, identifying Pivetta as part of the return for Heath Hembree and Brandon Workman has been one of the most impactful.
The Sox are 12-5 in the games Pivetta has started this season and only All-Star Nate Eovaldi has pitched more innings. He’s one of the pillars of a first-place team.
Starting pitching, good or bad, ultimately defines a team. That Pivetta earned a spot in spring training and how he has run with it is a big chapter in the story the Sox are writing so far.
Cora is so confident in this bunch that he rested Xander Bogaerts and Hunter Renfroe on Sunday, even in the ninth inning when they would have been helpful as pinch hitters with a potential insurance run on second.
As he did in 2018, Cora is sticking to what he believes will work over the long term.
“We’ve got a good team,” he said. “We’ve got guys that, maybe they struggle offensively. But they play good defense. Their baseball I.Q. is good.
“We’ve got a bunch of smart baseball players in there. They see the game. They understand the game. That’s something that I’m very proud of them.
“One thing we don’t talk enough [about] is our coaching staff and what they bring to the equation. I think communication wise we’ve done an outstanding job staying on top of things; watching the opponent and what we can learn from them, and we can add to our program.”
As an example, Cora mentioned a recent road trip when the Sox went 2-4 at Kansas City and Tampa Bay after beating Atlanta twice. The Royals and Rays put pressure on the Sox with how aggressively they ran the bases and it was something the coaching started to incorporate.
The Sox are 9-1 since. Not necessarily because of that, but it has been a factor
“It’s a brand of baseball that we like,” Cora said. “We’ve got a bunch of athletes … This coaching staff has done an amazing job with these guys. It’s something that I’m proud of. I delegate. I’m on top of things but I trust them. Everybody has a voice.
“I’m very happy, very excited, for the work they’ve done and looking forward to finishing this thing because it’s been special.”
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 5, 2021 3:30:37 GMT -5
Nick Pivetta’s gem leads Red Sox to heart-pounding series win over A’s Barnes escapes ninth as Sox take two of three
By Steve Hewitt | stephen.hewitt@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald PUBLISHED: July 4, 2021 at 7:12 p.m. | UPDATED: July 4, 2021 at 8:37 p.m.
With a quick turnaround after an exhausting extra innings loss Saturday night, the Red Sox were in a bit of desperation mode on Sunday.
Xander Bogaerts, who rarely takes a day off, texted Alex Cora that he needed one after back-to-back games that went extras. The bullpen was taxed, and in the middle of a six-game West Coast swing, the Red Sox needed a big lift.
Nick Pivetta delivered.
After one of his worst starts of the season last week, the fiery right-hander knew he needed to be better, and knew he needed to pitch longer. He checked both of those off exactly when the Red Sox needed it on Sunday, tossing seven shutout innings to lead a hard-earned 1-0 win over the A’s. The Sox won two out of three in Oakland in a heart-pounding series that was decided by one run in each game.
“They see what’s going on and he stepped up to the challenge,” Cora said of Pivetta. “He did an amazing job. …
“It was needed. We were very short bullpen-wise and probably his best one. I know in Tampa, he had the no-hitter going but this one against a good lineup with the situation we were in, it was outstanding.”
Pivetta has been one of the best stories of the Red Sox’ first half after being acquired from Philadelphia last season. He started 6-0, and after some struggles in June, found some positive momentum with that hit-free outing against Tampa. Sunday, he was even better. He felt like had better command of his slider and changeup as he struck out a season-high 10, allowing two hits and two walks in his longest start of the season.
With Adam Ottavino down and tired arms in the bullpen after Friday and Saturday, it was a critical performance. Pivetta knew he had to pick them up.
“The bullpen has been there for me a lot this year, so I was just doing my part right back for them,” Pivetta said. “It’s a team effort every single day. That’s who we are. We’re a great team. We’re going to keep moving forward and picking us up whenever.”
After working out of a tough jam in the first and striking out the side, Pivetta went into cruise control for most of the rest of his afternoon. He retired 14 in a row from the first to sixth inning, and he was feeling himself. He was visibly emotional at different junctures of the game, even hopping off the field after big inning-ending strikeouts.
That’s been nothing new for Pivetta, who’s worn his emotions on his sleeve all season as he’s made a habit of coming up big for the Red Sox.
“He wants to be the best,” Cora said. “You start looking at certain starts this year. The one against (Jacob) deGrom, the one in Tampa, the one here, they were big games for us and he loves to compete. He competes and I’m glad that he’s pitching for us every five days.”
Added Pivetta: “I think I’m an emotional and energized guy. I really care about everybody on this team. I really want to do good for them every single day and I want to show up for them. And I want to pump them up, too. I want to be energetic and I want us to have fun and I want us to go out there and show ourselves every single night. It’s just me being me.
Matched in a pitchers’ duel with A’s starter James Kaprielian, the Red Sox needed every bit of Pivetta’s performance. They scratched just six hits on the afternoon, five against Kaprielian, and finally broke through in the sixth. Alex Verdugo led off with a double off the wall in left before advancing to third on J.D. Martinez’s double. Rafael Devers’ grounded into a double play, but Verdugo scored for the game’s first run.
The Red Sox threatened to add on when Devers hit a leadoff double in the eighth, but it came up empty. Garrett Whitlock pitched a shutout eighth before Cora turned to Matt Barnes in the ninth, and the freshly-minted All-Star worked a tightrope to protect the win.
Barnes labored through the ninth, needing 33 pitches to finally end it. With a runner on third and two outs, he struck out Seth Brown to earn his 19th save of the season and finish the series win, another big one as they head to Anaheim this week.
“We’re playing good baseball right now, and that’s a good team,” Cora said. “That’s a really good team. The fact that we came here and we beat them two out of three, it feels good. They will be in the hunt. They’re going to be there throughout the summer and we will, too. We will, too. We’ll see what happens.”
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 5, 2021 6:44:48 GMT -5
Peter Gammons @pgammo · 1h Nick Pivetta tosses 7 shutout innings in Boston Red Sox win: ‘Probably his best one (of the season),’ Alex Cora says masslive.com/redsox/2021/07/nick-pivetta-In June 24, Pivetta throws 6.2 0 0 0 2 8, Cora relieves him for best of whole staff. Ten days later, 7 2 0 0 2 10 to save bullpen.
|
|