Nick Pivetta seemed on the verge to venture where no Boston Red Sox starting pitcher has gone yet this season.
But then Red Sox manager Alex Cora took the opportunity away from the veteran right-hander in Monday’s 1-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.
Through two full turns in the rotation, the Red Sox have yet to have a starting pitcher work into the sixth inning. Some of that is by design, with Cora being cautious of the workload given early on to the starters. He pulled Corey Kluber after five innings and 67 pitches last week against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and in Sunday’s series-clinching sweep of the Detroit Tigers, Kutter Crawford got lifted following five innings of one-run ball in which he only threw 65 pitches.
Pivetta sure made a strong case to be the first starter to go into the sixth after he held a potent Rays offense to no runs and three hits while walking just two and striking out six on 83 pitches after five innings. But Cora, though tempted to send Pivetta back out to the mound, ultimately decided not to and turned things over to Boston’s bullpen.
“We were actually thinking six (innings),” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “But that last inning got a little bit longer and he left it out (there), everything in that inning.”
Pivetta tossed 22 pitches in the fifth, his most of any inning. After getting a line out and a strikeout to begin the frame, the 30-year-old issued a four-pitch walk to Yandy DÃaz and then got locked into a battle with Brandon Lowe, who hit the game-winning home run off Red Sox reliever Chris Martin in the eighth inning.
Lowe fought off a couple of pitches from Pivetta before running the count full. Pivetta prevailed, though, punching out Lower on a cutter with the Red Sox pitcher clearly amped up following the inning-ending strikeout.
While Pivetta didn’t get the chance to pitch into the sixth inning, it didn’t diminish what’s been a strong start to his third full season with Boston. In 10 innings so far on the campaign, Pivetta’s surrendered 10 hits and just one earned run.
“I think overall there’s a lot of things that he worked (on) in the offseason that he wanted to accomplish coming into the season,” Cora said. “There’s conviction behind certain pitches.”
