Red Sox Notes: Nick Pivetta’s ‘Impressive’ Finale Draws Applause

The Boston Red Sox sent Nick Pivetta to the mound, making his final start this season against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night, and the right-hander did not disappoint one bit.

Putting an end to a demanding year that had Pivetta fulfill a hybrid role, pitching out of the bullpen and rotation, wasn’t easy. Pivetta pitched seven shutout innings, striking out 10 Baltimore hitters on just 87 pitches, prompting the 30-year-old to plead his case for an eighth-inning appearance. But Red Sox manager Alex Cora didn’t budge.

Still, there was plenty to applaud Pivetta for after Boston snagged a 3-0 victory at Camden Yards, avoiding a final sweep to the Orioles before officially transitioning into the offseason.

“Good fastball, good curveball, good tempo, throwing strikes, the slider was good. He wanted to keep going but I felt like that was good enough,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “He wanted to keep going but I felt like that was good enough. Well, he feels like it’s not over yet. He said he’s gonna be able to go on Sunday. We’ll see about that. … It was impressive and that tells you who he is.”

Regardless that the season is over before its official end, Pivetta never took his foot off the gas. Through his last four starts (25 2/3 innings), Pivetta pitched to a 1.75 ERA, holding opponents to a .149 batting average.

Afterward, Pivetta confirmed his bid to remain in the contest.

“I’m never ready to come out of a baseball game no matter what,” Pivetta said postgame, per NESN. “It’s just the situation. We have (Garrett) Whitlock go out there and do that job that he did, and a tremendous job he did pounding the strike zone, and then securing that win for me. So I think it’s really huge for the team.”

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Here are more notes from Friday night’s Red Sox-Orioles game:

— Opponents held the Red Sox scoreless for 24 consecutive innings, including through the first four in Baltimore.

— Pivetta became the first pitcher since Roger Clemens (1987) to throw seven-plus scoreless innings in the final two outings of a season in Red Sox history, joining an exclusive four-man list that also includes Mel Parnell (1953) and Cy Young (1904).

“He’s just a true professional,” Trevor Story said postgame, per NESN. “He’s always trying to find ways to get better and I feel like most of this year he’s been pretty dominant. Every time he takes the mound, we feel like we have a really good chance to win. Really excited about the year he had.”

— Rob Refsnyder went 1-for-3 with a double in Baltimore, boosting his batting average against left-handed pitching to .311 this season through 143 plate appearances. That also includes eight extra-base hits and 21 RBIs.

— Boston is 5-6 against the Orioles this season.

— The Red Sox and Orioles face off again Saturday night. First pitch from Camden Yards is set for 7:05 p.m. ET live on FOX. Boston will return to the NESN airwaves Sunday for its season finale with first pitch set for 3:05 p.m.