The Boston Red Sox had to hold on late again against the Cardinals, but took the rubber match of their three-game set with St. Louis with a 6-4 win on Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox, who have won five consecutive series, improve to 36-31 while the Cardinals drop to 38-30.
Check out the full box score here:
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
With the starting rotation missing two key pieces in Garrett Whitlock and Nathan Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta continues to step up for the Red Sox and perform like an ace.
Pivetta wasn’t his sharpest in the series finale against the Cardinals, but he didn’t let that derail him, a mark of a good pitcher. Pivetta now has won seven out of his last eight outings. The righthander eats up innings as well, tossing at least six innings in each of his wins this season.
It’s somewhat hard to believe that in early May Pivetta was wearing an 0-4 record with a 6.08 earned run average. Now, he’s 7-5 with a 3.31 ERA. He has completely turned things around for himself on the mound, and that reversal has coincided with the Red Sox playing better baseball.
STARS OF THE GAME
— Pivetta worked around four walks to turn in another strong performance. The right-hander tossed seven innings, allowing just four hits and one run while striking out 10 on 108 pitches. Pivetta’s best inning came in the seventh when he struck out the side in order to cap his outing.
— Christian Vázquez broke the game open in the bottom of the eighth inning with a three-run home run over the Green Monster. Vázquez’s blast proved to be even more important after Tyler Danish allowed three runs in the top of the ninth. Vázquez, who finished 2-for-4 at the plate and scored two runs, also caught a runner stealing in the win.
— John Schreiber faced the fiercest part of the Cardinals’ lineup in the eighth inning and mowed them down. Holding on to a two-run lead at the time, Schreiber struck out the side in order, including getting Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado swinging.
WAGER WATCH
Coming into the contest, DraftKings Sportsbook had +425 odds of Trevor Story hitting a home run. Betting on that bet would have paid off, literally, with Story taking care of business in the second inning with an opposite-field solo shot. A $100 wager on this prop bet would net a total payout of $525.
ON DECK AT NESN
The Red Sox begin a new, three-game series with the Detroit Tigers on Monday at Fenway Park. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
