Tuesday night's performance was one Nick Pivetta surely wants to quickly put behind him.
Fortunately for the right-hander, the rest of his teammates were on their game.
Pivetta labored through 4 1/3 innings against the Royals in which he allowed six earned runs on nine hits while walking two. But between Boston's lively offense (seven runs on 12 hits) and yet another stellar collective outing from the bullpen (four hits allowed over 4 2/3 scoreless innings), the Red Sox still were able to pick up a 7-6 win at Fenway Park.
The ultra-competitive Pivetta understandably was hard on himself after his 16th start of the season, stressing that he needs to go deeper into games. But the fifth-year pro took plenty of solace in the fact that the Red Sox incorporated all hands on deck as they extended their win streak to five.
"(The bullpen has) been incredible," Pivetta told reporters, per The Boston Globe. "They're all really working hard, going out there grinding innings out and doing a tremendous job. I think it's just been a team effort as a whole. Sometimes things aren't going your way. It's a team, there's eight other guys on that field. So when they pick you up, it's always a great feeling."
Boston will look to keep it rolling Wednesday when it meets Kansas City for the penultimate contest of the teams' four-game set. NESN's complete coverage of the matchup begins at 6 p.m. ET.
