Nick Pivetta Isn’t Pushing Panic Button After Rays Sweep Red Sox

The Red Sox had an opportunity to make a statement over the weekend in Central Florida, but they let it go by the wayside.

Boston entered its three-game series against Tampa Bay with a 1 1/2-game lead over the Rays for first place in the American League East. Kevin Cash’s club now owns that advantage after sweeping the Red Sox, which was capped off by Sunday’s 3-2 win at Tropicana Field.

Nick Pivetta, Boston’s starter for the series finale, isn’t overly concerned about the Sox losing control of the top spot in the division.

“I really don’t think there’s room for panic here,” Pivetta told reporters, per MLB.com. “We’ve played incredible baseball up to this point. It’s a 162-game season, and we’ve just got to kind of grind through this and move on to Detroit. I think we go out and we win a series against them and we just kind of move on from there.”

Pivetta’s manager echoed the sentiment.

“We lost four in a row, (and) they’re playing good. Early in the season, we were playing good and they sucked,” Alex Cora told reporters. “It’s part of baseball. It’s 162 games. You’ve got to stay the course. Right now, we’re in second place in the division. We don’t like what happened this weekend, but it’s part of it.”

The Red Sox will enjoy a much-needed off day Monday before resuming game action Tuesday when they open a three-game set against the Tigers at Comerica Park.