Who would have ever imagined that the Boston Red Sox would got into New York with Nick Pivetta (3-0, 2.81 ERA) and beat the best pitcher in baseball? Well it happened! Pivetta tossed 5 shutout innings against the New York Mets and their ace Jacob deGrom allowed just a single run in 6 dominant innings. The trio of Garrett Whitlock, Adam Ottavino and Matt Barnes allowed just 2 baserunners combined to slam the door on the incompetent Mets offense. The Sox offense were asleep but Christian Vazquez knocked in Xander Bogaerts for the only run of the game. As amazing as it sounds, Pivetta beat deGrom and the Red Sox blanked the Mets 1-0 at Citi Field.
deGrom got the ball in the top of the first inning and Kike Hernandez struck out swinging to start. Alex Verdugo grounded out to short and JD Martinez flied out to center to end the inning. Pivetta got the ball in the bottom of the first and gave up back to back walks to Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor. Pete Alonso struck out swinging, Michael Conforto flied out to left and JD Davis lined out to short to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second when Xander Bogaerts doubled to left to start. Xander moved to third on the Rafael Devers grounder to second and scored on the Christian Vazquez double to center. Marwin Gonzalez moved Devers to third with a grounder to second but Bobby Dalbec struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Dominic Smith took strike three to start the bottom of the second but Jeff McNeil dropped a base hit to center. James McCann banged into a double play to end the inning.
Pivetta himself struck out swinging to start the top of the third before Hernandez lined out to left. Verdugo grounded out to short to end the inning. deGrom himself struck out swinging to start the bottom of the third and Nimmo grounded out to third. Lindor struck out swinging to end the inning.
Martinez struck out swinging to start the top of the fourth and Bogaerts grounded out to second. Devers doubled to right but Vazquez struck out swinging to end the inning. Alonso grounded out to short to begin the bottom of the fourth and Conforto took strike three. Davis was plunked but Smith whiffed to end the inning. Pivetta had thrown 74 pitches but had allowed no runs to that point.
deGrom dominated the top of the fifth as Gonzalez, Dalbec and Pivetta all went down swinging in short order. Pivetta returned for one final inning in the bottom of the fifth and McNeil popped up to third to start. McCann walked but was forced at second by deGrom. Nimmo struck out swinging to end the inning. Somehow Pivetta threw 5 shutout innings while allowing just 1 hit.
deGrom came back for one more inning in the top of the sixth and Hernandez flied out to right to begin. Verdugo walked but Martinez went down hacking. Bogaerts grounded out to first to end the inning. Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in for the bottom of the sixth and Lindor struck out swinging to start. Alonso singled to right but Conforto took strike three. Davis walked but Smith was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to end the inning.
Aaron Loup came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Devers got a base hit to right to start. Vazquez whiffed and Gonzalez banged into a double play to end the inning. The Lock returned for the bottom of the seventh and McNeil flied out to left to start. McCann struck out swinging and Jonathan Villar pinch hit for Loup. The Lock froze Villar for strike three to end the inning.
Trevor May came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Dalbec went down hacking to start. Franchy Cordero pinch hit for Whitlock and naturally struck out swinging. Hernandez also struck out swinging to end the inning. Adam Ottavino came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Nimmo struck out swinging to start. Lindor lined out to second and Alonso flied out to center to end the inning.
Edwin Diaz came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Verdugo went down swinging to start. Martinez struck out swinging and Bogaerts was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to end the inning. Its a good thing the Sox pitching was amazing because they did nothing the past two days. Hunter Renfroe replaced JD Martinez for defense and Matt Barnes came in to close out the bottom of the ninth. Barnes blew away Conforto, Davis and Smith all swinging in short order to end the game. The Sox had beaten deGrom and the Mets 1-0.
Hero of the Night is Nick Pivetta. Facing the best pitcher in the game, Pivetta outpitched him by tossing 5 shutout innings while allowing just 1 hit to remain undefeated since coming to Boston.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 2 for 3.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3 and drove in the game's only run.
Garrett Whitlock tossed 2 scoreless innings.
Adam Ottavino pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Matt Barnes earned his sixth save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
JD Martinez was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Marwin Gonzalez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 3 with 3 strikeouts.
Franchy Cordero struck out as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Honorable Mention:
Hunter Renfroe played right field in the bottom of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
This was without a doubt the best win of the season. The comeback against Tampa was nice but THIS was a statement game. The Sox were facing the best in the game in his own stadium and still won it. It took lights out pitching from Pivetta, Whitlock, Ottavino and Barnes but they got it done. deGrom is having a year similar to Pedro Martinez in 2000 and Pivetta pulled a Steve Traschel big time. Its a shame the offense isn't doing much lately because this run of pitching can't possibly be sustained the whole season. Sooner or later the bullpen is going to get tired if the starters are only going 5 innings a pop. Still, on a night like this they'll take Pivetta's effort ten times out of ten. You can squawk about the bottom of the rotation or the bottom of the batting order but the bottom line is the Sox are going to finish April in first place no matter what. Tomorrow night the Sox travel to Texas to close the month out with a set against the Texas Rangers. Martin Perez (0-1, 5.71 ERA) takes on old Sox killer Kyle Gibson of the Rangers at 8:05 PM at Globe Life Field.
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