BOSTON — A familiar scene unfolded Thursday at Fenway Park in the series opener between the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers.
Although the starting pitcher pitched strongly, the offense struggled and the team lost the series opener at home again, this time 5-0.
The Red Sox are 1-7 in their first series starts at Fenway this year, with their only Opening Day win coming against San Francisco, and are 6-13 in their first series starts this season overall.
For a team struggling with batting consistency, losing the first match of the series multiple times was a setback from the get-go.
“We had a good start and we kind of squandered it,” Rob Refsnyder said. “We had a lot of strikeouts tonight. I saw like 12 strikeouts. I don’t know, maybe it’s contagious, but they’ve had a really good starting pitching staff this season and we just haven’t done a very good job. We just didn’t get on base tonight. Yeah, I’m at a loss for words.”
Nick Pivetta got the job done after his worst start of the season last week against Milwaukee. He was shaky in the first inning, walking the leadoff batter and throwing just nine of his 20 pitches for strikes, but he struck out two to end the inning and was focused the rest of the way.
Nick Pivetta strikes out 8 in a row. pic.twitter.com/sd1Ikb9ucf
—Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 30, 2024
Pivetta struck out eight batters in a row by the end of the third inning, tying the Red Sox record of 20 strikeouts set by Roger Clemens on April 29, 1986. The streak ended in the fourth inning when Riley Greene grounded out, but Pivetta still had not allowed a hit. With one out in the fifth inning, Akil Baddoo hit a monster first-pitch cutter into the lineup, giving the Tigers their first hit of the game for either team.
In the top of the sixth, a fly ball to right fell in front of Will Abreu and bounced off the wall, but the rookie couldn’t catch it, allowing Carson Kelly to triple. After the flyout, Pivetta intentionally walked Green, and then Mark Cagna singled to score Kelly, ending Pivetta’s day. Cora was replaced by Greg Weissert, who reached base and got a double play to prevent further damage.
Pivetta pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up three hits, two walks, and two runs, while striking out nine batters to lead his team to the victory.
“He was really good,” Cora said. “He was able to use all of his pitches today – some high pitches, some sweeper pitches, spreading the ball out, but he didn’t do much offensively.”
The Red Sox were down just 2-0 when Pivetta left the game, but that was a huge difference for a team that had very little offensive firepower. They scored eight runs in Baltimore on Tuesday, but had been held to three runs or less in each of their four previous games. Inconsistency at the plate killed any momentum the team was hoping to gain on a night of offensive firepower.
The Red Sox have scored two runs or less in 17 of their 29 losses.
Refsnyder threw nine pitches and broke up Jack Flaherty’s no-hitter with a single to left field in the seventh inning, but failed to jump-start the offense. Reese McGuire singled in the eighth but also failed to reach base. In between those hits, reliever Chris Martin uncharacteristically allowed a double and two home runs in the top of the eighth to extend the Tigers’ lead.
“As a team, we’ve got to put it all together,” Pivetta said. “We always seem to be on one side or the other. We’ve got to come together as a pitching staff to make sure we’re carrying our hitters as much as our pitchers have carried us. We’ve got to keep doing that. Luckily, we’ve got a long way left in the season, but we’ve got to step on the gas and get it all together. We’re playing against some good teams that are doing the right things, and we’ve got to go out there and do the right things.”
The four-game series against the Tigers should provide some respite during a tough stretch for the Red Sox. Coming off a 2-1 series in Baltimore, the Red Sox host the Atlanta Braves for two games next week before lightening their schedule with a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox. After that, they’ll play six straight games at home against the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees.
“We just have to keep moving forward,” Pivetta said.
(Photo of Pivetta by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
