Subscribe
Follow Us
Complete dominance from Boston Red Sox reliever Nick Pivetta tonight, and he made some history along the way. Six no-hit innings, no runs allowed, and 13 strikeouts out of the bullpen. His 13 Ks in relief against the Oakland Athletics are the most in Red Sox franchise history. That's also the most strikeouts by a reliever without allowing a hit in modern MLB History, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Pivetta entered the game to start the third inning, replacing Brennan Bernardino. The Red Sox have used Bernardino as an opener, an unpopular strategy the Tampa Bay Rays recently revived. Bernardino did his job, working a quick two shutout innings with two strikeouts.
Nick Pivetta is really more of a starting pitcher; he tossed 334 innings over the 2021-22 seasons. But Boston has used Pivetta mostly as a reliever this year. In 22 appearances, he's only made eight starts. 13 Ks ties Pivetta's career high, which he last reached with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2018.
The Red Sox jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the second inning but Bernardino did not pitch enough innings to get credit for the win. So, Pivetta earned his sixth win of the season with this lights out performance. Boston cruised to a 7-0 victory over the Athletics in this one. Chris Martin came on in the ninth to finish the job. He walked one batter but struck out three to complete the Red Sox' one-hit shutout.
Eight different Red Sox recorded at least one hit in Monday's blowout of the A's, and five had an extra base hit. Connor Wong led the team with three RBIs, a career high for him.
Boston is 51-54, fourth in the AL East. They stand one game ahead of their last-place rivals, the New York Yankees.
