The Boston Red Sox found themselves in an early deficit Tuesday night against the Atlanta Braves, and it haunted them for good.
With an early setback in place, coupled with the Braves’ starting pitching — Charlie Morton — and bullpen ready to apply the pressure on Boston’s lineup, the recipe for disaster was in place leading to a 9-3 Red Sox loss, the team’s second straight.
Nick Pivetta allowed four runs to cross in the first inning against Atlanta, coming off three base hits, including a two-run home run, a walk and a hit-by-pitch to give the Braves an early edge and just enough momentum to start. Again, to start. Because the first inning was just the premonition of what was to come, nevertheless, it was still the foundation that doomed Boston from the get-go.
“I just didn’t have my best day,” Pivetta told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Got behind a lot of hitters. They’re a good hitting club, took advantage of that. Just one of those days. … Just not gonna read too much into it. It’s one of those nights that’s unfortunate. I wasn’t able to get it going from the beginning, cost the team the loss, which is unfortunate. You’re gonna have those types of games and you just gotta see how you bounce back and continue to move forward.”
Pivetta pitched four innings, responsible for seven earned runs allowed off eight hits and three walks while setting three Braves hitters down by way of strikeout.
“I just had a bad day,” Pivetta said. “That’s what it is.”
With Red Sox manager Alex Cora announcing the return date of James Paxton, who will join the rotation Friday night, Cora ensured that no role changes will be made regarding Pivetta following the rough showing.
“Today was off from the first pitch,” Cora told reporters, per NESN. “… He’s starting Tuesday.”
Here are more notes from Tuesday’s Red Sox-Braves game:
— Masataka Yoshida went 0-for-5, ending his league-leading hit streak at 16 games. Yoshida fell three games shy of setting the Red Sox record for longest hit streak by a rookie, still held by former infielder José Iglesias (18 games, 2013).
— Justin Turner went 2-for-3 with a home run and a double, the 300th of his big league career.
— Ryan Braiser was the only Red Sox pitcher who wasn’t charged with at least one earned run as the Braves refused to take their foot off the gas, offensively. Brasier pitched a scoreless sixth inning, allowing one hit with one strikeout.
— Boston had five batters in the lineup go hitless, which included two pinch-hitters — Bobby Dalbec and Rob Refsnyder. Alex Verdugo and Turner were the only two to record multi-hit nights as the Red Sox lineup totaled more strikeouts (12) than base knocks (eight).
— The Red Sox wrap up their two-game series with the Braves on Wednesday night. First pitch from Truist Park is set for 7:20 p.m. ET, and you can catch the full game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.
