Pivetta tosses 2-hitter to lead Red Sox
Bogaerts homers as Boston wins rubber match of 3-game series
Nick Pivetta pitched a twohitter, Xander Bogaerts hit a solo home run, Rafael Devers added an RBI double and the Boston Red Sox beat the Houston Astros 5-1 on Wednesday night in the rubber match of their three-game series.
It marked the first complete game by a Red Sox pitcher since Chris Sale on June 5, 2019, at Kansas City. It was the first at Fenway Park since Rick Porcello against the New York Yankees on Aug. 3, 2018.
Kike Hernandez and Christian
Vazquez added RBI singles for Boston, which took two of three from the team that beat them in the ALCS last season.
Pivetta (2-4) gave up a leadoff home run to Jose Altuve, but settled down to retire the next 18 batters as Boston built a 5-1 lead. The Astros didn’t get their second hit of the day until Michael Brantley led off the seventh inning with a double.
Pivetta finished with eight strikeouts and didn’t issue a walk. He threw 112 pitches, 78 for strikes.
Houston’s Luis Garcia (3-2) lasted four innings, allowing five hits, five runs (three earned), three walks and a home run while striking out four. It matched his shortest outing this season, another four-inning day in his first start on April 12.
Altuve opened the game by battling Pivetta for 10 pitches before getting under a 95-mph fastball and lifting a fly ball over the fence in center field for his eighth homer of the season to put the Astros in front 1-0.
Rafael Devers got aboard with a one-out triple during Boston’s half of the first and scored off J.D. Martinez’s sacrifice fly to right to tie it up.
Bogaerts was next and jumped all over Garcia’s third pitch, hitting a high line drive just over the top of the Green Monster for his fourth home run of the season to make it 2-1.
Hernandez reached via a throwing error on Jeremy Pena in the third inning. He then scored on Devers’ double off the Monster.
Boston added two more in the fourth via back-to-back RBI singles by Vazquez and Hernandez to stretch the lead to 5-1.