Alex Cora Salutes Nick Pivetta For ‘Amazing’ Hustle Play

Nick Pivetta left it all on the field Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards.

Pivetta, who improved to 2-0 on the season via the Red Sox’s 14-9 victory over the Orioles, immediately atoned for a mistake he made with two outs in the third inning. With the bases loaded, miscommunication between Pivetta and catcher Christian Vazquez resulted in a bungled pitch, prompting Freddy Galvis to make a beeline for home. But Vazquez was able to quickly track the ball down and flip it to Pivetta, who collided with Galvis at the plate as he made the final out of the frame.

It’s obviously not ideal to see one of your pitchers involved in such a physical play. But Alex Cora after the game praised Pivetta for his hustle nonetheless.

“Very aggressive. Very aggressive play,” Cora said, as seen on NESN’s Red Sox postgame coverage. “It was a big play at the moment. Bases loaded, they were getting something going on. He made some good pitches. Lucky us, Christian was able to get the ball and made a great play. But hustling and putting his body in front of Galvis — that was amazing.”

Pivetta, meanwhile, effectively deflected praise given the play was preceded by a miscue.

“I mean, it was my mistake to begin with,” Pivetta said. “I actually crossed up Vazqy. We got lucky. He was able to really make a really great play and I was able to get there quick. You know, any time that happens — obviously something positive — but I got to be a lot better on my part.”

Pivetta logged six innings in the series finale, allowing four runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts. The right-hander, who was acquired by the Red Sox in August of last year, still has yet to lose in a Boston uniform.