BOSTON — Since being taken out of the starting rotation in mid-May Nick Pivetta has emerged as a formidable weapon out of the bullpen, and Friday he made his strongest case yet for a potential return to full-time starting duty.
Pivetta threw five strong innings of relief, allowing three runs on four hits while striking out eight, and the offense kept rolling for its sixth consecutive game with 10 or more hits en route to a decisive 7-3 win over the Oakland Athletics.
As has been the case in many of his recent outings, Pivetta entered the game following an opener, this time left-hander Brennan Bernardino. The Athletics followed a similar strategy on their end, using lefty Sam Long to help keep the Red Sox from loading up with lefties at the top of the lineup.
Bernardino got the job done, throwing a clean first before stranding runners at the corners for a scoreless second. Long started off strong, posting a scoreless first as well, but then things came unglued in the second when Alex Verdugo, Kiké Hernández and Triston Casas all reached to load the bases with no outs, prompting A’s manager Mark Kotsay to summon Luis Medina, who was originally expected to start.
Though the Red Sox went on to score five runs in the inning, this rally wasn’t anything like Thursday’s eruption against the Texas Rangers bullpen.
Yu Chang’s two-run single, which put the Red Sox ahead, was a slow bouncer up the middle that had an expected batting average of .150, according to Statcast. Jarren Duran’s ensuing RBI infield single had even less of a chance at .080, and that only wound up being a hit thanks to Duran’s ridiculous speed. Justin Turner’s ensuing RBI single was more conventional, but not particularly hard hit, and Rafael Devers’ RBI grounder to cap the rally was a slow roller as well.
The point is, Medina actually did a pretty good job limiting the Red Sox to soft contact. Once he settled in he shut the Red Sox bats down, at one point retiring 11 straight.
Meanwhile, the Athletics chipped away at the deficit and made things interesting.
Oakland got on the board in the fifth after Devers threw away a tough infield grounder trying to make the third out, allowing Seth Brown to score. Then in the sixth Duran couldn’t corral a sky-high fly ball against the Green Monster off the bat of Shea Langeliers, who reached on what was ruled a double, and immediately afterwards Brown took Pivetta deep for a two-run home run to make it 5-3.
That was ultimately as close as the Athletics got. Boston’s bats finally got going again in the seventh, with Duran sparking the two-run rally with a one-out triple before Duvall and Verdugo came through with back-to-back RBI singles to make it 7-3. Medina wound up allowing four runs over six innings, allowing seven hits and two walks while striking out nine.
Boston has won six of its last seven and now stands three games back of the Toronto Blue Jays, who jumped the New York Yankees on Friday, for the final AL wild-card spot. James Paxton (4-1, 2.70 ERA) is slated to take the mound for Boston, while Oakland is expected to start Paul Blackburn (1-1, 4.50). First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m.
