BRADENTON, Fla. – Nick Pivetta didn’t have his best stuff Tuesday during a 6-2 loss to the Pirates, but he still brought plenty enough to the table to show once again that most teams would take Pivetta’s off day over many starters' top efforts.

Pivetta worked four-plus innings at LECOM Park, allowed two solo home runs and struck out five in his third Grapefruit League start. It wasn’t the long balls that irritated him so much as the three walks he issued, so even after he was done in the 83-degree Florida sun, the Red Sox workhorse dutifully trotted to the bullpen to round out his day with another 10 pitches to try to iron out the kinks.

With his start in the season-opening series in the Bronx looming just 11 days away, Pivetta is already locked in on his next target and doing what it takes now to make sure he’s ready to dominate in games that matter.

“[Workload-wise], I'm right where I need to be,” Pivetta said. “It’s a short Spring Training, there's some things that we kind of have to rush through to work on, but other than that, we'll be all ready for Opening Day.”

Pivetta’s fastball sat around 93 mph Tuesday, creeping up to 95.5 mph during the third inning, when he baited the first two hitters he faced -- Daniel Vogelbach and Bryan Reynolds -- into 1-2 counts, then polished each off with sliders: Vogelbach looking and Reynolds swinging.

Consecutive one-out walks in the fourth vexed the lanky righty, and rightfully so -- he’s averaged just 3.5 free passes per nine innings against 9.8 strikeouts in his five-year career -- but then again, Spring Training is the time to perfect these things, and the ever-intense Pivetta was more than content to do so with his brief post-outing bullpen session.

His manager wasn’t concerned.

“Like I always said, it really doesn't matter how he feels, his stuff is still pretty good, right?” Alex Cora said. “I know he gave up the two homers and all that, but the velocity was good. He threw a few good sliders. He was talking to [catcher Kevin Plawecki] and [pitching coach Dave Bush] throughout the outing, and in the next one, hopefully, we can be a little bit cleaner.”

The next Grapefruit League outing will be Pivetta’s final ramp-up, and he’s scheduled to go six frames which, despite the shortened spring, will have him right where he needs to be physically for Game 2 of the regular season on April 9 against the division-rival Yankees.

Mentally, when will Pivetta start preparing for New York?

“Right now,” he said. “I think that's the way that you need to go about your business, is that you're prepared for Opening Day against the Yankees, and I think that's where I'm at right now. That's all we're focusing on.”

Story (re)set for debut

Trevor Story’s long-awaited spring debut will come Wednesday at home against the Braves. He rejoined camp during Monday’s off day, got several at-bats under his belt and tripled against Opening Day starter Nathan Eovaldi during a simulated game at JetBlue Park.

Story did not travel with the Red Sox for Tuesday’s game in Bradenton but was slated to join the Double- and Triple-A squads in Port Charlotte for their spring outings against the Rays to continue to get caught up to speed. The plan is for him to play Wednesday, rest Thursday and play back-to-back days against the Rays on Friday and the Pirates on Saturday.

Even though Story has missed most of Spring Training while navigating the post-lockout, free-agent waters, Cora is comfortable with the timeframe for Story, who signed a six-year deal worth $140 million on March 23, reported to camp the next day and departed Friday to be with his wife, Mallie, for the birth of their first child.

“He doesn't have innings, but physically, he's a freak athlete. He’s just different,” Cora said Tuesday.

But will Story be ready for Boston’s season-opening series against the Yankees?

“We have a good plan, and he feels good,” Cora said, “So he should be ready for Opening Day.”

Sox tix for midsummer games on sale Thursday

Single-game tickets for June and July will go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday at redsox.com/tickets or by calling 877-REDSOX-9. The tickets start as low at $15 and are available throughout Fenway Park. They include special dates such as July 26, when Boston will honor David Ortiz with pregame ceremonies two days after he’s enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and a July 30 date to honor veterans.

Giveaway dates include an Alex Verdugo “99” chain June 20, a beach towel July 4 and an Ortiz Hall of Fame pin July 26.