Red Sox Notes: ‘Frustrating’ Loss Vs. Rays Overshadowed Stellar Pitching

Pitching wasn’t the strong suit of the Boston Red Sox to begin their season.

But when going up against the scolding-hot Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night, the mound was the lone highlight of Boston’s 1-0 series-opening loss at Tropicana Field.

Nick Pivetta continues to serve as the sneaky reliable man in Boston’s rotation, registering the strongest start provided so far from the Red Sox arms. The right-hander pitched five scoreless innings against a lineup that leads Major League Baseball in home runs (25), allowing just three hits and two walks with six strikeouts.

Pivetta became the first pitcher in baseball to hold Tampa Bay scoreless for that long this season, doing so on 83 pitches with 53 of them for strikes.

“I’m happy,” Pivetta told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Was in the strike zone. Made a couple of mistakes, was able to get lucky with that defensive play behind me. (Connor) Wong did a tremendous job staying on the same page as me. … I felt good for the most part, was able to compete in the strike zone and do my job.”

But, obviously, there are two sides to baseball. And while the Red Sox cruised on the pitching side, the same couldn’t be said for Boston’s lineup, which hit a massive drought and couldn’t reward a stellar job done by the arms.

The Red Sox came away with just three hits while drawing two walks and striking out 10 times.

“Our pitchers did a hell of a job,” Christian Arroyo said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “… It’s frustrating but we gotta build off the positives there from the defensive (and) pitching side. … It’s a frustrating loss obviously losing 1-0. But we gotta move on next day.”

While the Red Sox dropped to .500 at 5-5, the Rays continue adding to their momentum, recording a third consecutive shutout victory at Boston’s expense.

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Here are more notes from Monday’s Red Sox-Rays game:

— The Rays became the first team to shut out the Red Sox in 2023 as Boston’s lineup recorded its fewest hits (three) through the first 10 games of the campaign.

— Pivetta has now allowed just one earned run through 10 innings pitched in two combined starts for the Red Sox, registering a 0.90 ERA to begin the season.

— Red Sox manager Alex Cora provided an optimistic update on Adam Duvall, revealing that the hot-hitting outfielder won’t require surgery to repair his fractured left wrist.

— Boston struck out 10 times for the second time this season, with both occasions resulting in losses.

— The Red Sox return to action for against the Rays on Tuesday night. First pitch from Tropicana Field is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET, and you can catch the game, along with an hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN+.