BOSTON -- Always the possessor of electric stuff, Nick Pivetta has worked long and hard to get to the point where there are two words that best describe what he is doing for his team.

Those two words? Innings eater.

Pivetta gobbled up eight more on Tuesday night in leading the Red Sox to a 6-1 win over the Athletics at Fenway Park. The right-hander gave up one run on three hits and two walks to go with three strikeouts.

With 74 2/3 innings under his belt this season, Pivetta ranks seventh in the American League in that category, but he is just four behind leader Justin Verlander.

“Yeah, I think it’s really important,” Pivetta said. “It’s what I’ve really worked on my whole career to kind of get to.”

The 29-year-old Pivetta, looked at as an enigma during his years with the Phillies, is becoming the best version of himself in Boston.

“I’ve said it before, the pitching staff really helps me out, the coaching staff has really helped me out,” Pivetta said. "[Catcher Christian Vázquez] has been tremendous back there for me, so it’s been a really good group effort to kind of get me where I am right now. And then going forward, I’m able to focus on the next start and not try to focus on fixing stuff from the last start.”

Pivetta’s 2021 season had its share of memorable moments. He fired six no-hit innings against the Rays at Tropicana Field in June. He pitched seven innings of two-hit, no-run ball in Oakland in July. Pivetta came through as a starter and a reliever during Boston’s strong postseason run.

But there was one thing about 2021 that left a bitter taste in Pivetta’s mouth, and that was the fact he went just 155 innings despite making 30 starts.

“He’s talked about wanting to throw 200 innings, and the only way to get there is to throw a lot of strikes,” pitching coach Dave Bush said. “When the pitch count is high, he’s not going to get there. I think that’s kind of the way I presented it to him.

“Like, ‘Listen, man, if you want to be able to throw seven, eight, nine innings, you have to be efficient.’ And efficiency starts with first-pitch strikes and it starts with pounding the zone all the time. If he can do that, he ends up with outings he had tonight.”

For the first time in his career, Pivetta is making starts like the one he had on Tuesday commonplace.

In his last eight starts, Pivetta went five innings or more all eight times. He’s hit six or more in seven of those outings and seven or more in four of those starts.

One of the reasons Pivetta always wanted the innings is because he knew the results would be where they needed to be if he pitched deep into games.

During his eight-start run that began on May 7, Pivetta is 6-1 with a 1.83 ERA, holding opponents to a .162 batting average and a .513 OPS.

This stretch didn’t come easy. It came directly on the heels of a five-start run to open the season in which Pivetta struggled mightily (0-4, 7.84 ERA).

“He was struggling and we got searching and he kept working, and this is really good,” manager Alex Cora said. “I know confidence-wise last year toward the end it was there, and then there was some lack of confidence early on this season. But he looks like he’s in control even on the bad days when he struggles. The last one [in Anaheim], the two walks he didn’t like. But he’s giving us a chance to win the game and go deep in the games, which is more important.”

That is particularly true during a nine-game homestand in which Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Whitlock are on the injured list.

With Chris Sale and James Paxton still rehabbing from injuries, Pivetta will stand in as the ace until Eovaldi returns.

He has looked like one lately.

“I don’t know if there have been big adjustments,” Bush said. “It’s just continually getting better at the small things, the small parts of his game. The stuff has always been great. He’s always had the velo and the curveball, and the swing and miss-ability, but I think it’s a matter of making the other parts of his game better and being more consistent and working on his delivery, and being able to execute and follow a game plan.

“He works hard. Every day he comes in, there’s something that he wants to work on. He’s been willing to take suggestions and advice and work together. Learn from me, learn from his teammates, and then when he gets out there in the games, it’s his chance to put it all together.”