It looked like a crucial turning point in the game Wednesday night against the Blue Jays when Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Nick Pivetta was called for a balk that allowed Toronto to take the lead in the top of the fifth inning.
It proved to be moot, though, with Pivetta going on to finish off a strong outing and Boston’s bats taking care of business en route to an 8-3 victory at Fenway Park.
Pivetta was called for a balk with Bo Bichette at the plate as the veteran right-hander worked out of the windup with a runner on third base. But Red Sox manager Alex Cora didn’t see anything different in Pivetta’s delivery that would have caused the infraction.
“That was the first time they called a balk with him from the windup when he declares himself,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “I know (umpire) Lance (Barksdale) explained it to me. But we’ll check because he’s been doing that the whole season.”
Pivetta vehemently argued his case to no avail on the field and was in disbelief over the call. Like Cora, Pivetta, who improved to 2-2 on the season after allowing three earned runs on five hits while striking out six and walking one, has more questions about what happened than answers.
“To be honest with you, in the moment, I don’t remember a lot of what was said,” Pivetta told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “I think whatever (Cora) has probably said to you guys is probably the right thing and I’ll probably lead with that. The problem I have is they didn’t call a balk two pitches before. That’s all I’m really going to go about that. We’ll see what happens later on.”
