Morning Sports Update

‘He gave us a lot of trouble’: Marlins manager credited Nick Pivetta after Red Sox win

Pivetta was able to use his "sweeper" pitch more effectively in Thursday's win.

By Hayden Bird

July 5, 2024

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Nick Pivetta’s performance in latest Red Sox win: The Red Sox moved to eight games above .500 for the first time in 2024 with a 6-5 win over the Marlins on Thursday.

While the game ended up being a much more dramatic affair — requiring 12 innings before the Red Sox finally clinched the win — the tone was set early by starter Nick Pivetta.

Pivetta, 31, put together 6.2 no-hit innings before Miami finally broke through. He finished his night with seven scoreless innings (yielding just one hit and two walks), striking out 10 in the process.

“Pivetta was outstanding today,” said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker. “He gave us a lot of trouble.”

“I just attacked the strike zone today,” Pivetta said afterward, per Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe.

In addition, he employed his “sweeper” pitch to great effect, drawing a 50-percent swing-and-miss rate.

The performance was particularly positive for Pivetta coming after a tough outing in his last start, a 9-2 loss to the Padres in which he allowed five runs in four innings. He credited part of his Thursday success to continued development of the sweeper.

“I put in some good work in my bullpen [sessions], was able to kind of get that pitch back,” he said. “It’s a finicky pitch and it’s still new to me, so I was able to kind of make some adjustments on it and use it sparingly today and it turned out really well.”

Scores and schedules:

The Red Sox, as noted above, got a 6-5 win over the Marlins in 12 innings on Thursday, completing the three-game sweep over Miami.

Boston begins a major test against the Yankees starting tonight in New York at 7:05 p.m.

On Saturday, the Revolution face the Sounders in Seattle at 10:30 p.m.

More from Boston.com:

• 3 takeaways from the Revolution’s 2-1 over Atlanta United
• Nikita Zadorov is a menace. The Bruins are banking on him to be so much more.
• Jackson Edward’s mean streak makes him an appealing Bruins prospect 
• Jake DeBrusk thanked Bruins fans for support in goodbye message after signing with Canucks
• Bruins’ Mark Kastelic ready to follow grandfather’s footsteps in spoked-B sweater
• Woburn’s Riley Duran ready to make a push during Bruins’ training camp
• Celtics free agency is a reminder that these are the good years
• Celtics fans reunite Jaylen Brown with ring he lost during championship parade

On this day: In 2003, the Red Sox (behind five scoreless innings from former Yankee Ramiro Mendoza) clobbered New York for the second straight game. Boston hit three home runs en route to a 10-2 win.

Having hit seven home runs off of Yankee pitching in a 10-3 win the day before on July 4, Red Sox batters got going again the following day. Even after New York starter Roger Clemens tried to cool off the opposing bats by plunking Red Sox first baseman Kevin Millar in the second inning, Boston right fielder Trot Nixon hit the very next pitch out for a two-run home run. Two more home runs from David Ortiz helped to ensure the rout.

Daily highlight: Jarren Duran saved the Red Sox on Thursday with a tremendous throw from centerfield to catch Marlins outfielder Jesús Sánchez at the plate, preventing a Miami walk-off win.