Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. Nick Pivetta was activated to start tonight's game against the Baltimore Orioles. The centerpiece of the Brandon Workman trade to the Phillies will make two starts to see what he's got before the end of the season. Robert Stock was sent back to the Alternate Training Site to make room for Pivetta, hopefully never to be seen again.
As for the game, THIS is what the Sox were supposed to look like this season. For the third straight game the Sox got good starting position and for the second game in a row, the bullpen didn't suck long enough for the Sox to win. Nick Pivetta (1-0, 9.28 ERA) made his Red Sox debut with 5 solid innings, allowing just 1 run to put the Sox in position to win. The Sox jumped on O's starter Keegan Akin for 4 early runs with Bobby Dalbec driving in two of them. Christian Vazquez hit the backbreaking 3 run bomb in the bottom of the sixth to ice the game. The bullpen held on just enough for the Sox to beat the Orioles 8-3 at Fenway Park.
Pivetta looked rusty in the top of the first inning although Cedric Mullins took strike three to start. Austin Hays drew a walk but Ryan Mountcastle flied out to center. Renato Nunez walked and DJ Stewart singled home Hays to give Baltimore the lead. Pedro Severino whiffed to end the inning but the Orioles were up 1-0.
O's starter Keegan Akin got the ball in the bottom of the first and Alex Verdugo singled to left to start. Rafael Devers whiffed, Xander Bogaerts took strike three and JD Martinez grounded out to second to end the inning.
Pivetta knocked off the rust in the top of the second inning by striking out the side. Hanser Alberto whiffed, Rio Ruiz was frozen for strike three and Ramon Urias went down hacking to end the inning. The Sox fought back in the bottom of the second as Christian Vazquez reached on an error by Ruiz to start. Jackie Bradley Jr singled to right and Bobby Dalbec doubled home Vazquez to tie the game. Michael Chavis scored JBJ with a sac fly to give the Sox the lead but Jonathan Arauz struck out swinging. Verdugo grounded into the shift but Stewart threw the ball away allowing Dalbec to score another run. Devers whiffed to end the inning but the errors led to a 3-1 Sox lead.
Pivetta struck out Stewart looking to start the top of the fourth before Severino flied out to left. Alberto singled off the glove of Devers before Ruiz grounded out to first to end the inning. The Sox got another run in the bottom of the fourth as Arauz singled to right to start and Verdugo singled him to third. Arauz was picked off, Devers whiffed to earn the hat trick and Boagerts lined out to second to end the inning.
Pivetta finished up his outing in the top of the fifth as Urias singled to right to start. Mullins walked but Hays whiffed. Mountcastle banged into a double play to end the inning. That was it for Pivetta who threw 96 pitches but survived 5 innings, allowing just the 1 run to put the Sox in position to win.
The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the fifth against Cole Sulser as Martinez doubled to left to start. Vazquez flied out to left but Urias booted a grounder by JBJ to put runners at the corners. JBJ swiped second and Dalbec walked to load the bases. Chavis banged into a double play to end the inning.
Naturally the Orioles jumped all over Marcus Walden in the top of the sixth as Nunez pounded a home run into the Charles River to cut the lead to start. Stewart singled and Chavis dropped a routine pop up by Severino, but Alberto banged into a doubled play. Ruiz doubled home Stewart to cut the lead and Urias singled him to third. That was it for Walden as Ryan Weber came in to strike out Mullins swinging to end the inning with the Orioles down 4-3.
The Sox iced the game in the bottom of the sixth with Paul Fry now on the mound. Arauz walked but Verdugo whiffed. A wild pitch moved Arauz to second but Devers whiffed to earn the golden sombrero. Evan Phillips came in to pitch to Bogaerts but he walked. Martinez singled home Arauz and Vazquez crushed his 6th home run of the year to put the game out of reach.Phillips started clutching his hand. He had to leave the game and Thomas Eshelman came in to walk JBJ. Dalbec popped up to second to end the inning but it was 8-3 Sox.
Darwinzon Hernandez came in for the top of the seventh and Devers booted a routine grounder by Hays for an error to start. Hernandez recovered by blowing away Mountcastle and getting Nunez to pop up to short. Hernandez struck out Stewart swinging to end the inning. The Sox blew another rally in the bottom of the seventh as Chavis doubled to left to begin. Arauz singled Chavis to third but Verdugo popped up and Devers banged into a double play to end the inning. Devers had the golden sombrero, an error and hit into a double play, not his night.
Cue the Benny Hill theme
Domingo Tapia came in for the top of the eighth and struck out Severino swinging to start. Alberto grounded out to short but Ruiz doubled to left. Urias grounded out to third to end the inning. Bogaerts popped up to short to start the bottom of the eighth before Martinez doubled to left. Vazquez lined out to third and JBJ flied out to center to end the inning.
Dylan Covey was brought in to end the top of the ninth but he almost crapped his pants. Mullins and Hays stroked back to back singles before Mullins moved to third on the Mountcastle fly out to right. Nunez whiffed but Stewart walked to load the bases. Matt Barnes came in to get Severino to pop up to first to end the game. The Sox had won it 8-3.
Hero of the Night is Christian Vazquez. His 3 run bomb put the game away and matched the Orioles entire offensive output.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 5.
JD Martinez was 3 for 5 with an rbi and a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 4 with a walk, a stolen base and a run scored.
Bobby Dalbec was 2 for 3 with 2 rbis, a walk and a run scored.
Michael Chavis was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Jonathan Arauz was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Nick Pivetta got his first win with the Red Sox by tossing 5 innings of 1 run ball.
Ryan Weber struck out the only man he faced.
Darwinzon Hernandez pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Domingo Tapia pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Dylan Covey got the first 2 outs of the ninth inning.
Matt Barnes got the final out of the ninth inning.
The Bad:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 5 with a golden sombrero of 4 strikeouts, an error and he hit into a double play.
Marcus Walden allowed 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored 2 runs.
Final Thoughts:
So THIS is the team the Sox should be if they had everything going right. Even though the Sox won in spite of Devers tonight, the fact that Bogaerts, Martinez, Dalbec, Bradley, Arauz and Verdugo were all big contributors shows that offensively the Sox will be fine next season. Its only a question of if Andrew Benintendi and JD Martinez can have better seasons than this year. Pivetta looked good for the 5 innings he was in and at least he kept them in the game. The "we want to tank" Sox fans can eat dog turds because the Sox have figured out a winning formula. The sad part is the Sox can win 4 of their remaining 5 games with the rotation they currently have. Nathan Eovaldi, Pivetta, Tanner Houck and Martin Perez are all scheduled to pitch one more time and hell...maybe the offense can carry whatever bum they throw out for the fifth game? All in all things are looking up for the Sox has they have a somewhat replenished farm system, possibly the next righthanded ace (Houck) and guys coming back from lost years (Eduardo Rodriguez and Benintendi). The win improved the Sox to 21-34, just 2 games behind the Orioles for fourth place in the AL East. The Sox can move one step closer out of last place by beating the Orioles tomorrow night. Nathan Eovaldi (3-2, 4.25 ERA) takes on Dean Kremer of the Orioles at 7:35 PM at Fenway Park.
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