Tag: nick pivetta

Alex Verdugo’s clutch two-run homer lifts Red Sox to 5-4 comeback victory over Blue Jays

Alex Verdugo certainly made his first home run since June 15 count on a hazy Monday night at Fenway Park.

With the Red Sox trailing the Blue Jays, 4-3, in the late stages of the eighth inning, Verdugo came to the plate representing the potential go-ahead run with one out and a runner on first in the form of Hunter Renfroe.

Matched up against Jays reliever Trevor Richards, the left-handed hitter got ahead in the count at 3-1 before taking the fifth pitch he saw — an 85 mph changeup over the outer half of the plate — and depositing it 414 feet over everything in right field.

Verdugo’s 10th homer of the season, which left his bat with an exit velocity of 101.1 mph, was quite a dramatic one, as it allowed Boston to pick up a 5-4 win over Toronto, marking the club’s 33rd comeback victory of the year.

Before Verdugo’s late-game heroics, it was Nick Pivetta who made his 20th start of the season for the Sox on Monday.

As has been the case since right before the All-Star break, Pivetta certainly was not at his best in this one. Over 4 2/3 innings of work, the right-hander surrendered four runs — all of which were earned on six hits and two walks to go along with three strikeouts on the night.

Pivetta was gifted an early two-run lead, as Verdugo and Michael Chavis got the Sox on the board first with an RBI single and RBI groundout off Blue Jays starter Thomas Hatch in the bottom of the second, but he gave up that lead by issuing back-to-back run-scoring base hits to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Marcus Semien a half inning later.

Rafael Devers pushed Boston back in front by a run by crushing his 27th big fly of the year — a 392-foot solo shot — off Hatch in the third, and Pivetta nearly got through five innings before running into some two-out trouble.

After giving up a leadoff ground-rule double to George Springer in the fifth, Pivetta responded by recording the first two outs of the inning rather quickly.

Just one out away from stranding a runner in scoring position, Pivetta served up a two-run homer to Bo Bichette on a 1-1, 89 mph changeup on the inner half of the plate that he sent over the Green Monster to put his side up a run at 4-3.

That would turn out be how Pivetta’s night came to a close, as Red Sox manager Alex Cora quickly exited the dugout to give him the hook. The 28-year-old finished with a final pitch count of 92 (59 strikes) in the process of raising his ERA on the season to 4.51.

In relief of Pivetta, Phillips Valdez got the first call out of the Boston bullpen and picked up where he left off on Friday by getting through the fifth, tossing a 1-2-3 sixth, and stranding a pair in a scoreless seventh inning to keep the deficit at just one run.

From there, Adam Ottavino maneuvered his way around a one-out double in an otherwise clean eighth inning, setting up the Red Sox lineup to strike in their half of the frame.

By drawing a one-out walk off Richards, Renfroe broke up a string of nine straight Red Sox hitters to be retired by Blue Jays relievers, and Verdugo followed by delivering in the clutch with his two-run, go-ahead homer.

Given a one-run lead to protect all of the sudden, Red Sox closer Matt Barnes was deployed for the ninth and slammed the door on the Jays to notch his 22nd second save of the season as well as a 5-4 victory for his side.

With the win, the Sox improve to 62-39 on the year while also moving to 1 1/2 games up on the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Ray vs. Richards

Tuesday’s starting pitching matchup between the Blue Jays and Red Sox will feature a pair of veteran hurlers going at it, with left-hander Robbie Ray toeing the rubber for Toronto and right-hander Garrett Richards will be doing the same for Boston.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)

Nick Pivetta falters as Red Sox fall short against Phillies in 5-4 loss to close out first half of season

The Red Sox capped off the first half of their season in disappointing fashion on Sunday afternoon, as their comeback attempt against the Phillies fell short in the form of a 5-4 defeat at Fenway Park.

Xander Bogaerts provided the Sox with an early 1-0 lead by crushing a solo home run — his second in as many days — off Phillies opener Brandon Kintzler in the bottom of the second inning, but that would prove to be the only lead Boston would enjoy on Sunday.

That being the case because Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta got rocked for five runs — four of which were earned — on four hits and two walks to go along with four strikeouts on the afternoon.

Facing off against his former team for the first time since being traded last August, Pivetta likely had revenge on his mind, and it looked like things were going to go his way when he retired the first six batters he faced in order.

The third inning, however, was a different story for the right-hander, as he issued a one-out single to Ronald Torreyes to break up the perfect game before walking Travis Jankowski on 10 pitches and subsequently recording the second out.

Just two strikes away from escaping the jam, Pivetta gave up a hard-hit single to J.T. Realmuto that undoubtedly would have plated one run, but wound plating two on a throwing error made by right fielder Hunter Renfroe.

That sequence saw the Sox’ one-run lead turn into a one-run deficit at 2-1, and the Phillies tacked on even more off Pivetta in their half of the fourth when Torreyes deposited a two-out, three-run homer over the Green Monster, making it a 5-1 contest in favor of the visitors.

Pivetta’s day came to a close after he recorded the final out of the inning, as the 28-year-old finished his outing having thrown just 76 pitches, 48 of which went for strikes. In addition to taking the loss to fall to 7-4 on the year, Pivetta also raised his ERA on the season up to 4.30.

While Pivetta certainly put his side in a less-than-ideal spot, the Red Sox bullpen picked things up the rest of the way, as the likes of Yacksel Rios, Darwinzon Hernandez, Hirokazu Sawamura, Adam Ottavino, and All-Star Matt Barnes combined to toss five innings of scoreless baseball.

That said, the Boston lineup was unable to get anything substantial going offensively, though they certainly had their chances to do so.

After falling behind 5-1 in the fourth, the Sox countered in their half of the fifth by plating a run of their own an RBI groundout off the bat of Alex Verdugo, cutting the deficit down to three runs.

An inning later, Boston threatened once more, this time driving in a pair on back-to-back run-scoring knocks from Bobby Dalbec and Christian Arroyo off Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado to trim Philadelphia’s advantage to just one run at 5-4.

Fast forward to the eighth, and it looked as though the Red Sox were in a prime spot to turn this game on its head, as the bases were loaded with two outs for Verdugo, who was matched up against left-handed reliever Ranger Suarez.

Suarez wound up winning that particular left-on-left battle, though, as he got Verdugo to weakly ground out to second to extinguish the threat.

In the ninth, Suarez was at it again even while going up against the three most dangerous hitters in Boston’s lineup. The lefty punched out J.D. Martinez and Bogaerts, then got Devers to ground out to first to preserve the 5-4 victory for his side, as well as a 5-4 loss for the Red Sox.

All in all, the Sox went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position on Sunday and left 10 men on base as a team.

With the loss, the Red Sox fall to 55-36 on the season and end the unofficial first half of the campaign having dropped four of their last five. They do remain 1 1/2 games up on the Rays for first place in the American League East

Gonzalez removed with right hamstring strain

Marwin Gonzalez was originally in Red Sox manager Alex Cora’s lineup at first base and batting out of the eight-hole, but was forced to exit in between the second and third innings after re-aggravating his right hamstring while running out a ground ball.

Bobby Dalbec replaced Gonzalez at first base.

A trip to the injured list for the veteran utility man seems likely, per Cora.

Next up: All-Star break

The Red Sox will be off for the next three days on account of the All-Star break.

Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez, Nathan Eovaldi, and Matt Barnes will enjoy the festivities in Denver this week, while the rest of the team will prepare for a four-game series against the Yankees that begins in the Bronx on Thursday night.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez is slated to get the ball for Boston in the series opener, while New York has yet to name a starter.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 7:08 p.m. eastern time on ESPN.

(Picture of Christian Vazquez and Nick Pivetta: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Red Sox bullpen experiences eighth-inning meltdown in 11-2 loss to Phillies

The Red Sox came into the eighth inning of Saturday’s game against the Phillies at Fenway Park trailing only by a run at 3-2.

Josh Taylor, after recording the final out of the seventh, was looking to notch his 27th straight scoreless appearance out of the bullpen in the eighth, but got off to a poor start by issuing a leadoff single to Bryce Harper.

A five-pitch walk of Andrew McCutchen did not do Taylor any more favors, and neither did a two-run double off the bat of Rhys Hoskins that resulted in the left-hander’s scoreless streak coming to an unceremonious close.

Taylor would get the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora after plunking the next man he faced, and in came Brandon Workman, inheriting a bit of a mess.

Workman, like Taylor, failed to record an out in the top of the eighth, as the veteran reliever walked a batter to fill the bases before yielding two runs on an RBI single and bases-loaded walk.

Turning to his bullpen for the second time in the inning, Cora handed things off to the recently-recalled Austin Brice, who proceeded to allow four additional Philadelphia runs to cross the plate on hits from Jean Segura and Harper before eventually and mercifully getting out of the inning.

By the time that happened, though, the Sox found themselves in a considerable 11-2 hole, and they would go on to lose by that score on Saturday evening.

Perez’s poor start

Martin Perez made his 18th start of the season for Boston on Saturday, and he did not end the first half of his season on much of a positive note.

That being the case because in just 3 2/3 innings of work, the left-hander surrendered three runs — all of which were earned — on six hits and two walks to go along four strikeouts and two home runs on the afternoon.

Right out of the gate, Perez fell victim to the long ball, as he served a leadoff home run to Jean Segura in the top of the first to put his side in an early hole.

An inning later, Perez again dealt with some early trouble, this time walking leadoff man Rhys Hoskins before giving up a booming two-run shot to Alec Bohm, making it a 3-0 game in favor of Philadelphia.

The Red Sox lineup was able to counter off Phillies starter Matt Moore by pushing across two runs of their own on a Xander Bogaerts solo homer (his 14th of the year) in the second and a pickoff error that allowed Christian Vazquez to score from second base in the third, cutting the deficit down to one run at 3-2.

Perez, however, saw his day come to a close sooner than he probably expected in the top half of the fourth, when he gave up a two-out single and walk to Ronald Torreyes and Andrew Knapp, making way for Hirokazu Sawamura to take over.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 73 (47 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler wraps up the first half of his 2021 campaign with a 7-5 record and an ERA of 4.04.

Red Sox bullpen takes over

In relief of Perez, Sawamura took over in the fourth, recorded the final out of the frame, and tossed a scoreless top half of the fifth as well.

From there, Garrett Whitlock retired three of the four hitters he faced in the sixth and got the first two outs of the seventh while also giving up a single to Jean Segura.

With the left-handed hitting Bryce Harper due up next for the Phils, Cora turned to the left-handed throwing Taylor, and while the southpaw got out of the inning without facing Harper thanks to a successful pickoff of Segura, that matchup is where things took a turn for the worse for the Sox.

Taylor’s scoreless streak snapped

By surrendering two runs on two hits, a walk, and a hit batsman in the eighth inning on Saturday, Josh Taylor’s impressive run of 26 consecutive scoreless appearances was snapped.

Prior to Saturday, the last time the lefty had given up a run came on April 24, meaning he went 77 days without seeing his ERA increase.

Taylor’s streak of 26 consecutive scoreless appearances goes down as the second-longest such run in Red Sox history, trailing only Koji Uehara’s 27 straight scoreless outings during the 2013 season.

Slow day for the Red Sox lineup

While the Red Sox bats were able to get to Matt Moore for two runs early on Saturday, they were unable to get anything going offensively the rest of the way.

From the middle of the fourth inning on, Moore and the Phillies bullpen (Hector Neris, Bailey Falter, J.D. Hammer, Connor Brogdon) put nothing but zeroes on the board for their side to contribute to the victory.

All in all, Boston went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position on Saturday while leaving seven men on base as a team.

Rays closing gap in division

With the 11-2 defeat, the Red Sox fall to 55-35 on the season. They have dropped three of their last four, resulting in the Rays trimming Boston’s hold of first place in the American League East down to 1/2 games.

Next up: Nola vs. Pivetta

The Red Sox will look to close out the first half of their 2021 season with a series victory over the Phillies on Sunday afternoon.

Philadelphia will send right-hander Aaron Nola to the hill in the rubber game, while Boston will dispatch fellow righty and former Phillies hurler Nick Pivetta, who will be making his first career start against his old team in the finale of this three-game series.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

Nick Pivetta punches out 10 over 7 strong innings as Red Sox take series from Athletics with 1-0 victory

This year’s version of the Red Sox seem to have a knack for not letting tough losses get to them.

After getting blown out by the Blue Jays, 18-4, on June 13, they came back the next night to walk off Toronto, 2-1. After falling to the Rays, 1-0, in heartbreaking fashion on June 24, they bounced back by topping the Yankees, 5-3, on June 25 for what would be the start of an eight-game winning streak.

That same winning streak was snapped in Saturday night’s soul-crushing 7-6 loss to the Athletics in 12 innings at Oakland Coliseum, but the Sox again showed just how resilient they are in Sunday’s series finale against the A’s, which also served as a rubber match between the two teams.

Nick Pivetta made his 17th start of the season for Boston, and he, too, rebounded from his worst outing of the year in his last time out against the Royals.

That being the case because over seven dominant innings, the right-hander kept Oakland off the scoreboard while scattering just two hits and two walks to go along with a season-high 10 strikeouts on the afternoon.

Pivetta was put in a tough spot out of the gate, as he issued a two-out walk and two-out single to the dangerous duo of Matt Olson and Matt Chapman in the bottom half of the first, but he escaped the early jam by fanning Jed Lowrie on seven pitches.

From there, Pivetta proceeded to retire 18 of the next 20 hitters he faced, and his day came to a close when he got Seth Brown to fly out to center field for the final out of the seventh inning.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 101 (65 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler ultimately improved to 7-3 on the season while lowering his ERA to 4.09. His next start should come against his former team in the Phillies back at Fenway Park next Saturday.

While Pivetta was in the process of stringing together seven scoreless frames, the Red Sox lineup was having a difficult time in scoring themselves with right-hander James Kaprielian on the mound for the A’s.

It took until the top half of the sixth inning, but a leadoff double off the bat of Alex Verdugo followed by a hard-hit single by J.D. Martinez put runners at the corners with no outs for Rafael Devers, who came through by grounding into a run-scoring double play that brought in Verdugo from third to make it a 1-0 game.

Even though Devers was not credited with an RBI on that particular play, what he did was good enough to give the Sox the only lead they would need.

After Pivetta recorded the final out of the seventh, Red Sox manager Alex Cora turned to rookie Garrett Whitlock for the eighth since Adam Ottavino was unavailable.

Whitlock, working in a rare one-inning role, put the potential tying run on base and allowed that runner to advance into scoring position on a wild pitch, but maneuvered around that by getting Tony Kemp and Elvis Andrus to pop out for the final two outs of the frame.

That paved the way for first-time All-Star Matt Barnes to get the call for the ninth in a 1-0 game, and he also played with fire a bit by yielding a leadoff single to Olson and a one-out walk to Jed Lowrie to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base.

Barnes was able to recover, though, as he got Ramon Laureano to ground into a force out before fanning Brown on three straight knee-buckling knuckle-curveballs.

When all was said and done, Barnes needed 33 pitches to get through the ninth, but he did secure the 1-0 victory for his side while also notching his 19th save of the year.

With the win, not only do the Red Sox take the three-game weekend series from the A’s, but they also improve to 53-32 on the season and remain 4 1/2 games up on the Rays for first place in the American League East.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, they will head south for Orange County to open up a three-game set against the 42-41 Los Angeles Angels that begins on Monday night.

Left-hander Martin Perez is slated to get the ball for Boston in the series opener, and he will be opposed by fellow Venezuelan southpaw Jose Suarez for Los Angeles.

First pitch Monday is scheduled for 9:38 p.m. eastern time on NESN and ESPN.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Theoron W. Henderson)

J.D. Martinez comes through with clutch 2-run double as Red Sox hold on to defeat Royals, 7-6

It was a back-and-forth affair that saw six lead changes and 25 total hits exchanged between both sides, but the Red Sox were able to hold on and defeat the Royals by a final score of 8-7 at Fenway Park on Tuesday night.

Nick Pivetta, making his 16th start of the season for Boston, saw his run of no-hit baseball come to an end moments after he delivered his first pitch Tuesday, as he served up a leadoff home run to the first man he faced in Whit Merrifield.

The Red Sox lineup, however, responded promptly to being put in an early hole. Enrique Hernandez didn’t lead things off in the first with yet another leadoff homer, but he did reach base by getting plunked by Royals starter Brad Keller.

An Alex Verdugo single advanced Hernandez up to third, and both runners came into score on back-to-back RBI base hits from J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts.

Despite getting that sort of run support right from the jump, Pivetta gave the lead up when he issued a run-scoring single to Michael A. Taylor in the second.

Again, the Boston bats answered almost immediately, as three straight one-out walks from Keller loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the third for Hunter Renfroe, who drove in Martinez on a sacrifice fly to put his side back up 3-2.

The Sox were unable to enjoy that lead for too long, though, with Pivetta serving up a two-run shot to Taylor with no outs in the top half of the fourth inning, thus putting his side back in a one-run hole at 4-3.

On the contrary, Kansas City was not able to enjoy their lead either, as the bottom of the Boston lineup paved the way for Hernandez to plate the tying run on a line-drive single and later for Martinez to bring in the then go-ahead run on another sac fly with the bases loaded.

Even with his team constantly battling back early on, Pivetta again surrendered the lead in his fifth and — what would turn out to be — final inning of work on a two-run blast off the bat of Ryon O’Hearn with one out in the inning.

At that point, the 28-year-old right-hander had yielded six runs (all earned) on a season-high nine hits (three of which went for home runs) and two walks to go along with five strikeouts, all while throwing 89 pitches (57 strikes).

With that relatively high pitch count in mind, Red Sox manager Alex Cora gave Pivetta the hook in what was at the time a 6-5 in game in favor of Kansas City. With an ERA of 4.43 on the season now, the righty’s next start should come against the Athletics in Oakland on Sunday.

In relief of Pivetta, Yacksel Rios came on, ended the fifth inning in quick fashion, and also tossed a clean top half of the sixth. Five of his six appearances with Boston have been scoreless, and he is now 2-0 in a Red Sox uniform.

In the bottom half of the sixth, Bobby Dalbec led off with a single, Verdugo drew a six-pitch walk off Royals reliever Jake Brentz, and that set the stage for Martinez.

On the first pitch he saw from Brentz, a 91 mph changeup on the outer half of the plate, Martinez came through in the clutch and laced a two-run double down the right field line to score both runners.

That gave the Red Sox a 7-6 lead going into the late innings of this one.

From there, the Red Sox bullpen only did what they have been doing as of late, and that’s keeping the opposition off the scoreboard.

Darwinzon Hernandez hurled a scoreless seventh inning with the help of Verdugo’s fifth outfield assist of the year, Adam Ottavino danced his way around a jam and stranded the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base in the eighth, and Matt Barnes punched out the side in the ninth to preserve the 7-6 win while also notching his 18th save of the season.

With the one-run victory, the Red Sox improve to 49-31 on the season while extending their winning streak to five consecutive games. They now sit two full games ahead of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Dalbec leaves with right hamstring tightness.

On his 26th birthday, Bobby Dalbec was forced to exit Tuesday’s contest in the sixth inning due to right hamstring tightness, Alex Cora said. He likely won’t be in the lineup on Wednesday.

Next up: Minor vs. Perez

Wednesday’s starting pitching matchup between the Red Sox and Royals will feature a pair of veteran left-handers going at it, with Martin Perez getting the ball for Boston and Mike Minor doing the same for Kansas City.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN. Red Sox will be going for their sixth straight win.

(Picture of Red Sox celebrating: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Nick Pivetta dominates with 6 2/3 no-hit innings, but Red Sox fall to Rays, 1-0, on walk-off wild pitch from Matt Barnes

The Red Sox received one of their best starting pitching performances of the season at Tropicana Field on Thursday night, yet were walked off by the Rays on a wild pitch and wound up losing 1-0.

Pivetta did not allow a single hit while walking two, plunking one, and striking out eight over 6 2/3 innings of work.

The right-hander was locked in from the get-go, as he made a statement by punching out the side in the first and taking a perfect game into the fourth, at which point he walked Brandon Lowe to begin the inning.

Lowe helped out Pivetta, though, as he ran into an inning-ending double play, while Hunter Renfroe contributed to the cause in the fifth by making a fantastic leaping catch on a Ji-Man Choi line out to deep right field.

After working his way around a HBP in the sixth, Pivetta came back out for the seventh with his pitch count rising, recorded the first two outs, but then got the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora with a string of left-handed bats due to hit for Tampa Bay.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 100 (58 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler turned to his four-seam fastball 45% of the time he was on the mound Thursday, inducing five swings-and-misses while topping out at 98.6 mph with the pitch.

Ultimately hit with the no-decision while lowering his ERA on the season to 4.00, Pivetta’s next start should come against the Royals back at Fenway Park next Tuesday.

In relief of Pivetta, left-hander Josh Taylor came on to record the final out of the seventh, which he needed just six pitches to do to extend his scoreless appearance to 22 consecutive games.

From there, Darwinzon Hernandez issued a one-out double to Keven Kiermaier in the eighth that saw the Sox’ combined no-hit bid come to an end. But Adam Ottavino was able to get out of the inning unscathed.

Matt Barnes got the call for the ninth in a scoreless contest, and he got the first two outs of the inning relatively easily before yielding a groundball single to old friend Manuel Margot.

Margot stole second and advanced to third on a Christian Vazquez throwing error, which put him in position to score the game-winning run on a wild pitch moments later.

Despite not being charged with an earned run, Barnes did pick up his second loss of the year.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against another veteran right-hander in the form of Michael Wacha.

Like Pivetta, Wacha was nearly perfect to begin things on Thursday, as he did not allow his first hit — a bloop single off the bat of Christian Vazquez — until the fifth inning.

Vazquez was able to steal second and even moved up to third on a throwing error, but was left there when Bobby Dalbec struck out to extinguish the threat.

Boston threatened once more with two outs in the sixth, with J.D. Martinez singling and Xander Bogaerts drawing a walk off Rays reliever Drew Rasmussen.

Alas, Rafael Devers grounded out to third, and another scoring opportunity was done away with.

That trend continued in the seventh, with Renfroe leading things off with a hard-hit double, but ultimately being gunned down by Kiermaier at home plate on a Vazquez single.

Vazquez’s time on the base paths in the eighth did not last all that long, as he was picked off at second base by Rays catcher Francisco Mejia. And that would prove to be their last legitimate scoring chance.

All in all, the Red Sox went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base as a team in Thursday’s 1-0 loss.

With the loss, Boston falls to 44-31 on the season while moving to a half game back of Tampa Bay for first place in the American League East. They have dropped their last two series.

—

Next up, the Sox will fly back to Boston and welcome the Yankees into town for a three-game weekend series at Fenway Park that begins on Friday night.

Left-hander Martin Perez will get the start for Boston in the series opener, while right-hander Domingo German will do the same for New York.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Matt Barnes: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Nick Pivetta gets knocked around, gives up 4 homers as Red Sox fall to Blue Jays, 7-2

The Red Sox’ starting rotation has not been particularly sharp as of late, and that recent trend continued in a 7-2 loss at the hands of the Blue Jays at Fenway Park on Saturday.

With the defeat, the Sox fall to 39-26 on the season and drop to two full games back of the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the American League East.

Coming into play on Saturday, Boston starters owned a cumulative ERA of 7.99 over the team’s last seven games, the second-highest mark in baseball over that span according to FanGraphs.

Nick Pivetta made his 13th start of the season for the Sox on Saturday, and he only saw that 7.99 starters ERA jump up to 8.36 in the last eight games by surrendering a season-high six runs — all of which were earned — on six hits and two walks to go along with four strikeouts over five innings of work.

Four of the six hits Pivetta gave up were home runs, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushing a two-run homer off the right-hander in the first inning and Cavan Biggo, Marcus Semien, and Bo Bichette each going deep in the top half of the fifth.

It’s fair to say that Pivetta did get blitzed in his fifth and final frame of work, but he did manage to sit down the last three hitters he faced in order.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 96 (60 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler later fell to 6-2 on the season while inflating his own ERA up to 4.28. His next start should come against the Royals in Kansas City on Friday.

Brennan’s Red Sox debut

In relief of Pivetta, Brandon Brennan got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen for what was his team debut in the sixth inning.

Brennan, who was claimed off waivers from the Mariners in May and called up from Triple-A Worcester on Thursday, created a bit of a jam for himself by loading the bases on the first three Blue Jays hitters he faced.

Put in a tough spot immediately, the 29-year-old got Reese McGuire to fan on five pitches before getting Marcus Semien to ground into an inning-ending 5-3 double play with some help from third baseman Rafael Devers.

From there, Brennan maneuvered his way around two more walks en route to tossing two more scoreless innings of relief.

Brandon Workman, meanwhile, served up another solo shot to McGuire in the ninth, which put Toronto up 7-2.

Red Sox’ offensive woes

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against a familiar foe in Blue Jays left-hander Steven Matz, who they got to for five runs the last time they saw him in Dunedin, Fla. back on May 20.

This time around, however, Matz proved to be a much tougher opponent, as it took the Sox until the sixth inning to push anything across against the veteran southpaw, though they certainly had their chances.

Christian Vazquez ripped an RBI single off Matz to score Rafael Devers from second with two outs in their half of the sixth, and that would prove to be all the Sox could do against the Blue Jays starter.

In addition to scoring a run, Devers collected his 49th RBI of the season by plating J.D. Martinez on a run-scoring single off Toronto reliever Rafael Dolis in the eighth inning, which cut the Sox’ deficit to four runs at 6-2.

Bobby Dalbec also hit his second triple of the year earlier in the fifth. All in all, though, Boston finished the day having gone 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position while leaving seven on base as a team.

A scary moment for Hernandez

Enrique Hernandez was struck in the helmet by a 96 mph fastball from Blue Jays reliever Anthony Castro during his seventh inning at-bat.

The ball glanced off the protective jaw flap of Hernandez’s helmet, and the center fielder was able to remain in the game.

Next up: Perez vs. Ray

Sunday afternoon’s starting pitching matchup between the Red Sox and Blue Jays will feature a pair of veteran left-handers going at it, with Martin Perez getting the ball for Boston and Robbie Ray doing the same for Toronto.

First pitch Sunday, the third game of this four-game set, is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on Sunday.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)

Xander Bogaerts leads Red Sox to comeback 6-5 victory over Yankees in extra innings; Boston sweeps New York at Yankee Stadium for first time since 2011

It took 10 innings to complete, but the Red Sox finished off their first sweep of the Yankees at Yankee Stadium in nearly 10 years with a drama-filled 6-5 comeback victory over New York on Sunday.

With the win, their fourth straight and their 21st of the come-from-behind variety this year, Boston improves to 36-23 (20-10 on the road) this season. They remain one game behind the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Verdugo gets the Red Sox on the board first

Matched up against Yankees right-hander Domingo German to start things on Sunday, Alex Verdugo got the scoring started for the Sox by crushing a first-inning solo homer to deep right-center field to give his side the early lead.

Verdugo’s eighth home run of the season, which came on a 91.3 mph fastball down the heart of the plate from German, had an exit velocity of 108.8 mph off the bat and traveled 446 feet into the bleachers.

Richards struggles out of the gate, but eventually settles in and goes five innings

Despite going up right away on the Yankees in this one, the Red Sox found themselves down a run going into the second inning on account of Garrett Richards’ early struggles.

Making his 12th start of the season for Boston, the right-hander yielded three consecutive one-out singles in the first inning to load the bases for Gary Sanchez, who drove in two runs on a hard-hit double to left field.

At that moment, it did not look like things were going to go well for Richards in his first outing at Yankee Stadium since 2018, but he was able to settle in fairly nicely.

The only other run the veteran righty gave up came on an RBI groundout from Aaron Judge in the bottom of the fourth. From there, he was able to escape the jam by getting Gleyber Torres to ground into another forceout before retiring the side in order in the fifth to end his night on a more positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 95 (66 strikes), Richards ended his day having allowed three earned runs on eight hits and two walks to go along with six strikeouts over five innings of work to raise his ERA on the year to 3.88.

The 33-year-old’s next start should come against the Blue Jays back at Fenway Park on Friday.

Gonzalez comes through in the seventh

With Richards holding the Yankees to three runs, the Sox lineup bounced back in their half of the seventh after German held them in check in his 5 2/3 innings pitched.

Hunter Renfroe led things off by drawing a four-pitch walk off left-handed reliever Lucas Luetge, which set the stage for Marwin Gonzalez, who was already having himself a memorable weekend in the Bronx.

Batting from his preferred right side of the plate, the switch-hitting Gonzalez cranked a game-tying, two-run home run down the left field line on a hanging slider from Luetge that knotting things up at 3-3.

Bogaerts delivers first of two clutch moments in the eighth

Red Sox manager Alex Cora was presumably very pleased with what he saw out of his lineup in the top half of the eighth.

The pinch-hitting Christian Arroyo led off with a pop-up double that very well should have been caught, advanced to third base on a Verdugo groundout, and then came in to score on a sacrifice fly from Bogaerts that put Boston ahead 4-3 late.

Get ’em on, get ’em over, get ’em in. That’s what happened there.

Barnes blows second save of season in the ninth

While the likes of Darwinzon Hernandez, Adam Ottavino, and Josh Taylor each tossed a scoreless inning in relief of Garrett Richards, Red Sox closer Matt Barnes ran into some trouble in the bottom half of the ninth.

Working in his third straight game, the right-hander issued a one-out walk to Aaron Judge and proceeded to serve up a game-tying, RBI double to Gleyber Torres.

With this contest now in a 4-4 deadlock, Barnes was able to get out of the inning while stranding the potential winning run at third base, though he was charged with his second blown save of the season.

Bogaerts does it again, this time to seal it

Heading into the top of the 10th, Christian Vazquez — who recorded the final out of the ninth — was placed at second base. Bobby Dalbec followed by drawing a six-pitch walk off Luis Cessa, and both runners advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from Christian Arroyo.

Alex Verdugo was unable to do anything in the clutch, as he grounded out to second, but Xander Bogaerts certainly did — again.

On a 2-1, 83 mph slider from Cessa, Bogaerts cleared the bases by drilling a two-run single to center field, scoring both Vazquez and Dalbec in the process of picking up his second and third RBI of the night to make it a 6-4 game in favor of Boston.

Valdez notches first career save to close it out

Having already exhausted the vast majority of his available bullpen options, Alex Cora turned to right-hander Phillips Valdez to close this one out in the bottom of the 10th.

With a two-run lead to protect, Valdez plunked the first hitter he faced, but induced a potentially pivotal double play — the third the Yankees hit into Sunday — before allowing one unearned run to score on a Marwin Gonzalez throwing error.

Valdez was able to rebound though, as he got D.J. LeMahieu to ground out to secure the 6-5 win for the Red Sox and pick up his first career save while doing so.

Some notes from this victory:

From MLB’s Sarah Langs:

From Red Sox Notes:

Next up: Make-up against Marlins to kick off homestand

Monday was originally supposed to be an off-day for the Red Sox, but May 30th’s rainout against the Marlins changed that.

The Sox will instead welcome the Marlins back into Fenway Park on Monday evening to conclude their three-game series that began late last month, with Boston taking the first two from Miami.

Right-hander Nick Pivetta will get the start for Boston, while fellow righty Pablo Lopez will do the same for Miami.

First pitch Monday is scheduled for 5:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN. A unique start time for what is sure to be a balmy day in the Fenway-area.

Red Sox will be going for their fifth consecutive win before opening up a three-game set against the Astros on Tuesday.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts: Adam Hunger/Getty Images)

Lifeless Red Sox drop third straight to Astros, 2-1; Nick Pivetta hit with first loss of season despite striking out 9 over 6 innings

A stagnant Red Sox offense was once again held in check by the Astros at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday night.

Houston starter Framber Valdez gave Boston a chance to get something going immediately in the first inning. The left-hander loaded the bases with two outs and walked in a run by issuing a free pass to Hunter Renfroe.

Bobby Dalbec was presented with the opportunity to do some more damage in his first at-bat of the night, but he grounded out sharply to shortstop to extinguish the threat.

As it would later turn out, that lone run is all the Sox could get off of Valdez, as the southpaw settled in after a rough first inning and strung together six straight scoreless frames to get through seven strong when all was said and done.

The Boston bats did not fare much better against the Astros’ bullpen, with all three of Alex Verdugo, J.D. Martinez, and Xander Bogaerts lining out to center field against reliever Ryne Stanek in the top half of the eighth.

In the top half of the ninth, a one-out single from Renfroe and two-out single from Vazquez off Astros closer Ryan Pressly provided the Red Sox with some late life and the chance to at least tie things up at two runs apiece.

Alas, Christian Arroyo hit a broken-bat pop-up to the infield, and 2-1 would go on to be Wednesday’s final score.

By dropping their third consecutive contest to the Astros, the Red Sox fall to 32-23 on the season (16-10 on the road), yet still remain two games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Pivetta grinds through first two innings, winds up turning in solid performance

Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta needed 57 pitches to get through the first two innings of his 11th start of the season on Wednesday. Like Valdez, he also put himself in a bases-loaded jam right away in the first, but got out of it having allowed just one run.

From that point, though, the right-hander locked in and put together one of his best outings of the year to this point all things considered.

Over six innings in total, Pivetta yielded two runs — both earned — on three hits and two walks to go along with nine strikeouts on the night.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 111 (72 strikes) to set a new season-high, the 28-year-old was ultimately hit with his first loss of the year — and his first since coming over to the Red Sox from the Phillies last August. His next start should come against the Marlins back at Fenway Park on Monday.

Red Sox bullpen takes over

In relief of Pivetta, left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez tossed a perfect seventh inning while Hirokazu Sawamura and Josh Taylor combined to toss a scoreless bottom of the eighth with the help of Christian Vazquez snuffing out Alex Bregman at second base.

Next up: Perez vs. Odorizzi

The Red Sox will send left-hander Martin Perez to the hill on Thursday afternoon as they look to halt this three-game losing streak, avoid a sweep and in turn end an otherwise forgettable series against the Astros on a positive note.

Perez will be opposed by veteran right-hander and his former Twins rotation mate Jake Odorizzi for Houston.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Bob Levey/Getty Images)

Red Sox commit 2 costly errors, fail to get anything going offensively in 5-1 loss to Astros

The Red Sox were within striking distance of the Astros heading into the bottom of the seventh inning at Minute Maid Park on Tuesday night.

Trailing by a run at 2-1, Hirokazu Sawamura came on for Garrett Richards and yielded a leadoff single to Kyle Tucker. A Rafael Devers fielding error on a Chas McCormick groundball put runners at first and second with no outs.

Sawamura proceeded by inducing another grounder off the bat of Myles Straw, one that was hit directly to Xander Bogaerts for what looked to be the start of a huge 6-4-3 double play.

Bogaerts fielded the ball cleanly and made a routine toss to Marwin Gonzalez, who misfired on his throw to first base that got past a sprawling Danny Santana and allowed Tucker to score easily.

A five-pitch walk of Martin Maldonado, a wild pitch, and an intentional walk of Jose Altuve loaded the bases as Red Sox manager Alex Cora made the switch from Sawamura to Garrett Whitlock.

Making his first appearance out of the bullpen in a week, Whitlock issued a free pass to the first man he faced to bring in another run before Yordan Alvarez tapped an infield single off him to plate an additional run and make it a 5-1 game.

What transpired in the seventh inning on Tuesday was what ultimately did the Red Sox in. By falling to Houston by a final score of 5-1, Boston drops back down to 32-22 (16-9) on the season. They remain two games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Richards provides six solid innings

Garrett Richards made his 11th start of the season for the Red Sox and put together yet another strong showing.

Despite dealing with his fair share of traffic on the base paths, the right-hander surrendered just two earned runs on four hits, four walks, and five strikeouts over six innings of work.

The first of the two Astros runs Richards gave up came on a towering solo home run from Jose Altuve right away in the first inning. The second came on a sacrifice fly from Chas McCormick after Richards served up a leadoff double and followed with a four-pitch walk later in the bottom half of the fourth.

Besides that, the 33-year-old hurler was able to retire six of the final seven Astros he faced to get through six full innings.

Despite lowering his ERA on the season down to 3.75, Richards was charged with his fourth loss and is now 4-4. His next start should come against the Yankees in the Bronx on Sunday night.

Red Sox’ offensive woes continue

For the second straight day, the Red Sox lineup was held in check at Minute Maid Park. Boston was once again limited to five hits while managing to push across just one run against Astros rookie starter Luis Garcia.

Hunter Renfroe sparked the lone offensive output of the night with a leadoff double in the fifth, marking his fifth consecutive game with an extra-base hit. Danny Santana advanced Renfroe to third on a single moments later, and it appeared as though the Sox were ready to pounce.

Christian Vazquez failed to advance either runner by popping out to the infield, Marwin Gonzalez plated Renfroe on an RBI groundout, and Enrique Hernandez also popped out to extinguish the threat.

From there, an Alex Verdugo leadoff single and Vazquez two-out single in the seventh went for naught as Garcia made it through seven complete innings for the first time in his young career.

The Astros bullpen took over in relief of Garcia and preserved the one-run effort by tossing a pair of scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth.

Next up: Pivetta vs. Valdez

Wednesday’s starting pitching matchup between the Red Sox and Astros will feature a pair of right-hander and a left-hander, with righty Nick Pivetta getting the ball for Boston and southpaw Framber Valdez doing the same for Houston.

Pivetta will look to play the role as the stopper with the Sox looking to halt a two-game skid and get back in the win column.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and ESPN.

(Picture of Garrett Richards: Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)