Nick Pivetta is on a roll for the Red Sox
BOSTON -- Nick Pivetta is on an absolute roll for the Red Sox. The righty continued his hot streak at Fenway Park on Tuesday night, tossing eight innings of one-run ball in a 6-1 win over Oakland Athletics.
Pivetta surrendered just three hits and a pair of walks while striking out three, earning his sixth win of the season. His ERA dropped to 3.50 with the outing.
That is pretty much who Pivetta has been over his last eight starts. He improved to 6-1 with a 1.83 ERA over that stretch with Tuesday night's performance. Opponents are hitting a minuscule .162 against the righty since May 7.
In his lone defeat during the run -- a 5-2 loss to the Angels his last time out -- Pivetta struck out a season-high 11 batters. He's fanned 72 batters for the season, and is on pace to set a new career-high with 191 strikeouts for the year.
Most importantly though, Pivetta has turned into an innings-eater for the Red Sox. He's tossed 74.2 innings, which is just four behind Justin Verlander's AL-leading 78.2 innings on the season. He's gone at least six innings in seven of his last eight outings, and given the Sox seven innings in four of those starts.
Pivetta has turned in seven quality starts on the season, nearly matching his eight quality start with the club last season.
The Red Sox rotation has needed a boost all season, with Chris Sale starting the year on IL and Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Whitlock recently landing on the list. Pivetta has provided that and move over this current stretch.
