Pivetta's rain-shortened relief outing shows he's strongest out of 'pen

BOSTON -- For the first three innings, the Red Sox’s decision to throw a bullpen game seemed to be going according to plan. But after a one-hour, 13-minute rain delay, things quickly fell apart.

Nick Pivetta's latest relief outing saw him match a season high in strikeouts (seven), but Boston couldn’t hold off Miami’s offense in a 6-2 loss to the Marlins on Wednesday night at Fenway Park.

After opener Kaleb Ort threw two innings of one-run ball, Pivetta retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced before back-to-back walks, almost immediately followed by the rain delay, cut his night short.

“I thought it started strong, threw a ton of strikes and then let in two walks at the end,” Pivetta said. “So an even-keeled performance.”

Down three starters -- with Chris Sale (stress reaction in left shoulder blade), Tanner Houck (facial fracture) and Corey Kluber (right shoulder inflammation) on the injured list -- Boston has opted to turn to its bullpen every fifth day.

When asked pregame if bullpen games have made the other four days more challenging, manager Alex Cora said it’s actually “a lot easier.”

“I like the structure, I like multi-inning relievers,” Cora said. “Obviously I would love to have five healthy starters, but here’s where we’re at and there’s one day where we’re going to attack it this way. But I think multi-inning guys are needed now, they are. If you look around the league, there’s not too many guys going six innings.”

Josh Winckowski has been key in filling that multi-inning role for Boston this season, with 44 2/3 relief innings, covering 1 1/3 or more frames as a reliever a team-leading 16 times. Tied for second most with seven such outings are right-hander Kutter Crawford, who has been moved to the rotation, and lefty Brennan Bernardino.

Though the bullpen’s early work unraveled in the sixth on Wednesday, Pivetta’s outing continued a recent trend for the newly minted reliever.

Pivetta opened his night with a 1-2-3 third inning, including bookend strikeouts of Jonathan Davis and designated hitter Jorge Soler. In the fourth, Pivetta struck out the heart of Miami’s lineup -- Bryan De La Cruz, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Garrett Cooper. Before running into trouble in the sixth, Pivetta retired baseball’s hottest hitter, Luis Arraez, getting the .396 hitter to ground out to first baseman Justin Turner.

“I felt good today, I feel like I’ve been consistent,” Pivetta said. “The things I’ve been working on have been paying off, and [I'm] just going to continue going out there and being consistent.”

When the grounds crew pulled the tarp onto the field at 8:32 p.m. ET, Pivetta was responsible for the runners on first and second. Following the rain delay, Winckowski allowed both runners to score after a wild pitch and a two-run single that was deflected by shortstop David Hamilton, inflating Pivetta’s 1.80 ERA as a reliever to 2.70.

Prior to his move to the bullpen, Pivetta had made just one relief appearance with the Red Sox: A dominant ninth inning in Game 162 against the Nationals to help Boston earn a 2021 postseason berth. Now, he’s become a key piece in the club’s bullpen, with significant as a reliever vs. a starter.

As a starter (40 innings)
6.30 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 42 strikeouts and 19 walks

As a reliever (20 innings)
2.70 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 25 strikeouts and nine walks

“I think he’s found his stuff back there,” Cora said. “Where we’re at right now as a team, that’s the role that we need from him. Obviously we know what he can do in the first six innings of a game. But roster wise and where we’re at, we need him back there. We got Kutter as a starter, we’re missing him. Obviously we got [Chris Murphy] Murph and Wink, but he’s becoming a dude back there. His fastball is playing, the slider is good. And right now we’re very comfortable with him.”