Friday night’s Red Sox game was like so many others in their disappointing second half:
A strong starting pitching performance squandered by a struggling bullpen and wasteful offense.
That’s the story of Nick Pivetta’s final outing of the season, and quite possibly his last game ever for the Red Sox. The impending free agent gave his team 6 ⅔ innings of two-run ball, but they fell to the Rays 2-1, with him taking the loss.
The right-hander, 31, had a shutout going until the top of the seventh, when he issued a leadoff walk he later described as leading to “a momentum change.” After Jonny DeLuca followed with a single and Josh Lowe doubled to bring in a run, Alex Cora walked out to the mound to take the ball.
Overall, Pivetta threw 100 pitches (67 for strikes) and held the Rays to two earned runs on four hits, one walk, and six strikeouts.
“Excellent,” his manager said. “Overall, a really good one.”
As Pivetta walked off the field, he tipped his cap to the applauding crowd.
“The Fenway fans have been extremely kind to me throughout the years I’ve been here, and I appreciate them, and I appreciate them showing up in full force,” he said. “They’re the ones that drive us every single day.”
Zach Penrod took over and faced the requisite three batters, but was unable to record an out. A walk and hit-batsman loaded the bases, and a second walk brought home the runner he’d inherited from Pivetta. Luis Guerrero and Luis Garcia held the Rays scoreless the rest of the way, but the two runs were enough for the win.
It’s a mystifying baseball phenomenon that the strongest starts often yield little to no run support. (Chris Sale dealt with this often during his early Red Sox seasons.) And of course, there’s the 2024 Red Sox’s well-documented offensive struggles, especially since the All-Star break.
Rays starter Taj Bradley kept the offense quiet through six innings, holding Boston to three hits, one walk, and striking out seven; the Red Sox went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position and stranded all four baserunners. Bradley needed just 71 pitches (49 strikes) to get through his outing.
On a warmer night, they might’ve done more damage. But at the end of September, several hard-hit balls weren’t hard enough. The Sox finished the night with six hits, half of which belonged to Vaughn Grissom, one walk, and 10 strikeouts, 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position, with seven men left on base.
Boston scored its lone run against reliever Colin Poche in the seventh. With one out, Grissom collected his second of three singles and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Romy Gonzalez’s pinch-hit single put runners on the corners, enabling Grissom to score easily on Nick Sogard’s sac-fly. An error by third baseman Junior Caminero enabled Ceddanne Rafaela to reach base and prolong the inning, but Jarren Duran lined out to strand two runners.
After that, their only baserunner was Grissom, who singled again with one out in the bottom of the ninth, and was left on base as Sogard struck out to end the game.
In the later innings, Pivetta sat next to his manager on the bench near the top of the dugout steps.
“Just kind of soaking in the air, and just enjoying the crowd and enjoying just being on the bench, and being surrounded by my teammates and coaching staff, and just enjoying a Red Sox game,” the righty said.
“He likes it here, he likes the atmosphere, he likes to compete,” Cora said. “He was sitting there in my seat, if you want to call it (that). He (was) like, this is a nice view, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s better when Kyle Schwarber hits it out of the ballpark!’”
“But all kidding aside, he works so hard, and it’s intense,” Cora continued. “Today, he was talking about the emotions, having flashbacks, and all that stuff.”
“A lot of memories, a lot to be grateful for,” Pivetta said. “It’s been a hefty four years, almost five years for me.”
“I don’t think it’s a single moment, I think it’s just the accumulation of it all,” he said of what stands out to him about his time in Boston. “There’s not too many moments where you get given an opportunity like I have, and to be with a really great organization like the Red Sox, I’m very lucky and I’m very grateful for that.”
Pivetta arrived via trade from the Philadelphia Phillies late in the 2020 season, making him one of the longest-tenured Red Sox players.
“I would characterize myself as a completely different pitcher,” he said. “And what I’m kind of capable of, I think I haven’t gotten to my ceiling and I think there’s a lot more.”
The righty’s time in Boston was something of a rollercoaster, but he was consistent in the way that matters most: on a team that has struggled to keep starters healthy, he posted. He pitched in 131 regular-season games, and threw at least 142 ⅔ innings in each of his four full seasons. According to Stathead, he’s the 52nd player in franchise history to make at least 107 starts.
Though there haven’t been talks about a reunion, Pivetta said he remains hopeful the two sides can come to an agreement.
“Boston’s become quite a home for me and my wife,” he said.
