When Nick Pivetta (5-4, 3.50 ERA) started the season 0-4 everyone thought the world was ending and Pivetta was all washed up. Since then Pivetta has gone 5-0 including a dominating win in today's game against the Oakland A's. Pivetta breezed through the A's, tossing 7 innings of shutout ball while allowing just two hits and two walks. On the other side of the ball, the Sox defeated arguably Oakland's best pitcher Pete Blackburn. The Sox rallied for three runs in the top of the third and Alex Verdugo drove in another in the fourth. Boston iced the game with four runs in the eighth inning to put the game away. The bottom of the order got 7 hits and 6 rbis as the Sox defeated the A's 8-0 at Oakland Coliseum.
Blackburn got the ball in the top of the first and Jarren Duran lined out to short to start. Kike Hernandez grounded out to third and Rafael Devers struck out swinging to end the inning. Pivetta got the ball in the bottom of the first and Tony Kemp lined out to third to begin. "Razor" Ramon Laureano struck out swinging and "Glassbones" Jed Lowrie grounded out to second to end the inning.
JD Martinez grounded out to second to start the top of the second and Xander Bogaerts grounded out to short. Chad Pinder dropped a pop up by Alex Verdugo but threw him out a second to end the inning. Pivetta struck out Pinder swinging to start the bottom of the second and Seth Brown went down hacking as well. Elvis Andrus doubled to center but Sean Murphy took strike three to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the third as Trevor Story doubled to left to start. Franchy Cordero walked and Christian Vazquez doubled to left to score Story, putting Boston on top. Duran struck out swinging before Hernandez went down hacking as well. Devers singled to center to score both runners but Martinez grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
Luis Barrera lined out to right to start the bottom of the third before Christian Pache took strike three. Kemp flied out to left to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the fourth as Bogaerts walked to start. Verdugo ripped a double to right to score Bogaerts and increase the lead. Story popped up to short, Cordero popped up to third in foul territory and Vazquez grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-0.
The A's almost struck back in the bottom of the fourth as Laureano doubled to left to start. Lowrie flied out to center but Laureano stole third. Brown hit a bullet to Story and Pinder flied out to center to end the inning.
Duran lined a base hit to center to start the top of the fifth and Hernandez got a base hit to left to chase Blackburn. Lou Trivino came in and Devers lined out to left. Martinez struck out swinging but Bogaerts singled in the hole at short to load the bases. Verdugo lined out to center to end the inning. Andrus lined out to center to start the bottom of the fifth and Murphy struck out swinging. Barrera flied out to left to end the inning.
AJ Puk came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Story struck out swinging to start. Cordero grounded out to short and Vazquez grounded out to first to end the inning. Pache walked to start the bottom of the sixth but Kemp forced him at second. Laureano lined out to first and Lowrie flied out to left to end the inning.
Sam Selman came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Duran flied out to left to start. Hernandez and Devers both struck out swinging to end the inning. Brown hit one up the elevator shaft to start the bottom of the seventh but Pinder walked. Andrus flied out to center and Murphy struck out swinging to end the inning. Pivetta tossed seven shutout innings allowing just 2 hits while striking out seven.
Old friend Domingo Tapia came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Martinez got so excited he doubled to left to greet him. Bogaerts lined a base hit to left to move JD to third and Verdugo singled to right to score Martinez. Story doubled to left to score Bogaerts and Cordero lined a base hit to center to score Verdugo & Trevor. Vazquez forced Franchy at second but Duran beat out a roller to third. Parker Markel came in to pitch to Hernandez and walked him to load the bases. Bobby Dalbec pinch hit for Devers and struck out swinging before Martinez forced Hernandez at second to end the inning with the Sox up 8-0.
Christian Arroyo took over for Bogaerts in the bottom of the eighth with Tanner Houck now on the mound. Barrera struck out swinging and Pache took strike three but Kemp singled to right. Laureano hit a grounder to Dalbec who threw the ball away trying to force Kemp. Kemp tried to score but was thrown out at home to end the inning.
Kevin Smith came in for Andrus, Sheldon Neuse came in for Laureano and Arroyo walked to start the top of the ninth. Verdugo flied out to left and Story grounded into a double play to end the inning. Hiro Sawamura came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Lowrie grounded out to second to start. Brown flied out to center and Pinder struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 8-0.
Hero of the Night is Nick Pivetta. He shut out the As for 7 innings and allowed just 2 hits while striking out 7.
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 2 for 5.
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Christian Arroyo drew a walk.
Alex Verdugo was 3 for 5 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Trevor Story was 2 for 5 with an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Franchy Cordero was 1 for 3 with a walk, 2bis and a run scored.
Tanner Houck pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Hiro Sawamura pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Bobby Dalbec struck out and committed an error.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but drew a walk.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but drove in 2 runs.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
Once again beating the A's isn't something to get too excited about but at the same time the bottom of the order is starting to hit and Pivetta looked great again. Winning 5 straight games no matter who the competition is would be nothing but success for Pivetta. As for the bats, the Sox may have something going now. Verdugo is starting to hit, Vazquez is up to almost .300, Cordero is up to .247 and the addition of Duran in Jackie Bradley Jr's absence is already paying off. If Duran hits well tomorrow as well, the Sox are going to look foolish for sending him down when Bradley comes back. They can get rid of one of the worthless relief pitchers that blow every other game and keep Duran for as long as he hits. The New York Yankees are on a roll but the Sox have won three in a row themselves. The Sox have plenty of head to head games with the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays to get back in the race but gaining some ground right now would be nice. The win improved the Sox to 26-27, good for fourth place in the AL East. The Sox look to sweep the A's tomorrow afternoon when Rich Hill (1-3, 4.85 ERA) takes on Frankie Montas of Oakland. The game begins at 4:05 PM at the Oakland Coliseum.
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