Pivetta flirts with no-no, Red Sox band together to complete sweep

MIAMI -- Nothing is certain in life -- or in the game of baseball.

After Nick Pivetta carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Boston was poised to flit out of Miami with an easy series sweep before the Red Sox head to Yankee Stadium this weekend.

Instead, it was Boston’s fight that was on display after Miami forced extras and negated Pivetta’s lights-out performance. The Red Sox refused to back down, taking the lead for good in the 12th inning to win, 6-5, earning their fifth road sweep and pushing them eight games above .500 for the first time this season.

“Overall, a grinder -- but a good one,” manager Alex Cora said. “It's not that we played sloppy -- they just play hard, too. And I'm just glad we ended up winning the game, and now we gotta be ready for tomorrow.”

There were a few key plays -- and players -- that made all the difference in Boston’s finale victory, though. Let’s take a look.

PIVETTA SWEEPS PAST FISH
While Pivetta’s seven scoreless innings didn’t factor into the final result, his outing was crucial -- both from a team and a personal perspective.

Pivetta took the mound vs. the Marlins coming off one of his poorer starts this year, allowing five runs in four-plus innings against the Padres on Friday. Against San Diego, Pivetta struggled to execute his sweeper.

There was no such trouble against Miami, though. Pivetta’s sweeper -- a pitch that’s still relatively new to him -- was crisp, with a 50% whiff rate.

“I put in some good work in my bullpens,” Pivetta said, “[and] was able to kind of get that pitch back. 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.”

In total, Pivetta got the Marlins to swing-and-miss 15 times en route to racking up 10 strikeouts over his seven scoreless frames. He allowed just two walks and one hit -- a triple from Jesús Sánchez that broke up the no-no bid with two outs in the seventh.

“It didn't look good for seven innings,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “Pivetta was outstanding today. … He gave us a lot of trouble.”

A fun tidbit: It was the second time the Canada native has started on July 4. The first time? When he threw seven scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts vs. the A’s in 2021. Fun tidbit No. 2: Pivetta's no-hit bid of 6 2/3 innings was the longest on the Fourth of July since Cincinnati's Tom Browning in 1989 (8 innings against the Phillies).

DOUBLE [STEAL] TROUBLE
Before Pivetta had stepped foot on the mound, the Red Sox had given him a lead. With one out in the first inning, David Hamilton walked, then Tyler O'Neill singled. The pair then executed a picture-perfect double steal before Hamilton came home on an RBI groundout from Rafael Devers.

It was an almost identical situation in the sixth inning, when Hamilton and O’Neill each singled, then pulled off another double steal. Devers once again drove Hamilton in from third via a groundout.

“[We’re] young, athletic,” Cora said. “We can do a lot of stuff. We almost stole this game in nine innings, with Hammy stealing third twice and us putting the ball in play, [but] it just didn't happen.”

DURABLE DURAN
After Miami tied the game with a pair of runs in the eighth inning, taking advantage of Boston’s bullpen, the Marlins had a chance to walk it off in the ninth.

Enter: Jarren Duran.

The Red Sox center fielder corralled a single from Xavier Edwards, then clocked Sánchez, who was on second base, breaking for home plate. Duran unleashed his second-hardest throw of the season, a 91.6 mph laser to catcher Reese McGuire at home plate.

The throw just barely beat Sánchez, and McGuire applied the tag. Miami challenged the play, claiming McGuire blocked the plate, but the out call stood after a review.

Major League Baseball’s rules indicate that catchers cannot block the runner’s path to the plate “unless he is in possession of the ball.”

“Perfect throw,” Schumacher said. “You're sending Sánchez all day long right there. I thought potentially that he was blocking the plate. That's why we challenged it. [They] said he gave him a lane and that's the replay.”

THE CHEMISTRY OF A WIN
With multiple chances in the later innings, including posting two runs in the 11th and another two in the 12th -- including Tyler O'Neill’s game-winning RBI double -- Boston showed off not only its fight, but its chemistry as well.

“We all trust each other and we all love each other,” Duran said, “and we're always playing for each other. … That's one of the things that we can contribute, and when somebody doesn't get the job done, we know the next guy is going to get it done for us.”