Nick Pivetta outduels Jacob deGrom as Red Sox shut out Mets - Boston Herald

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Jacob deGrom rightfully earned most of the attention heading into Wednesday, but by the end of the night, Nick Pivetta had something to say, too.

Fresh off a strong performance last week, when he carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, Pivetta was impressive again, outdueling the opposing Mets’ ace to lead the Red Sox to a 1-0 win and take a two-game series sweep in New York.

Traded from the Phillies, who essentially gave up on him last August, Pivetta’s performance on Wednesday might have been his most impressive. He had to be on against deGrom, a two-time Cy Young Award winner who’s off to a dominant start this year. He threw five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out seven, and it was good enough to beat deGrom’s six innings of one-run ball.

“I think I’m just as good as deGrom,” Pivetta said of his mindset against the Mets’ ace. “The way that I go into it is I have to mentally put myself in that I’m as good as deGrom and I’m going to beat deGrom. That’s just what you have to do. He’s an incredible pitcher, don’t get me wrong, I love watching him pitch. I think he’s incredible. But I can’t let him being up here, let me get down here. I have to go up and meet him right there and believe in myself.”

Pivetta labored a bit through the first after opening his outing with back-to-back walks, but he got through it unblemished and found his rhythm after. He had good command of all three of his pitches, especially his fastball, as he went toe to toe with the game’s best.

“For everything we’ve been talking about deGrom, Nick has been throwing the ball well,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “He’s done an outstanding job. He gave us five quality innings and the bullpen did the rest.”

deGrom, who has consistently failed to get run support from his Mets’ offense, was beaten with two doubles from Xander Bogaerts and Christian Vazquez in the second. That’s all that was needed as Pivetta continued his dominance and the combination of Garrett Whitlock, Adam Ottavino and Matt Barnes finished the job.

Pivetta even helped his own cause by working a 10-pitch at-bat against deGrom, ultimately striking out. But it was a microcosm of deGrom’s night, as the Mets’ ace certainly did enough to win but had to work for everything he got.

“I think overall, for how good (deGrom) was, we did a good job,” Cora said. “We battled with him, we put good at-bats, we went the other way. He’s still great, man. He actually halfway through the game, he changed his approach against us, started throwing changeups to right-handed hitters and for such a grind, six innings, one run, nine strikeouts, but Nick was really good, too. He did an amazing job and he’s been throwing the ball well.”

Pivetta has mostly been throwing the ball well since he arrived to the Red Sox. A failed prospect who was viewed as something of a project when the Red Sox traded for him, the 28-year-old was sent to the alternate site in Pawtucket to rework himself. It seemed to work, because he’s looked like a new pitcher since he made a strong debut at the end of last season.

In seven Red Sox starts dating back to last season, Pivetta is now 5-0 with a 2.56 ERA, which includes a 2.81 mark this season. His command still isn’t perfect, but the Red Sox will take this from him every time.

“These guys, they know how to win here and that really helps me,” Pivetta said. “It’s really helped me over the past since I’ve started here. It’s a different vibe, they know what they’re doing, they’re never out of a baseball game, they’re always competing and it showed tonight and it showed last night as well. You know everybody, this is a team effort, it’s a team win, a team series win for sure, and having that kind of momentum, that feeling, it’s awesome. I’m really enjoying it here, I really love the guys.”

Other takeaways from Wednesday’s win:

Red Sox get enough off deGrom: The Red Sox entered Wednesday with the highest batting average against fastballs in MLB, while deGrom had the highest whiff rate in baseball. Something had to give.

In the second, it was deGrom. The right-hander gave up two doubles, both on fastballs. The first one was to Bogaerts, and then after Rafael Devers moved him to third, Vazquez came up with a huge knock, a double to the opposite field to give the Sox a 1-0 lead. It was only deGrom’s second earned run allowed this season.

“For me, he’s the best right now, with all due respect to Gerrit Cole, this guy, he’s amazing,” Cora said of deGrom. “It’s actually fun to watch. Obviously, I don’t have to be in the batter’s box, but the way he competes is great. Our guys, they had a game plan. We talk about going the other way, trying to make contact, good long at-bats. For him to only go six, it was a moral victory for our guys.”

Whitlock impressed again: Whitlock took the ball for the biggest spot of his young career as he was called to protect a one-run lead in the sixth and seventh, and he passed with flying colors. He pitched two shutout innings and struck out four Mets. The rookie Rule 5 pick has still not given up an earned run in 13 1/3 innings.

“He earned it,” Cora said. “This guy is a strike-throwing machine with great stuff, great composure. We’ve been talking about this kid from the get-go. He caught our attention the way he goes about his business. … When you can throw strikes with that stuff, it’s easy to trust him. He can get lefties and righties out. It was the perfect situation for him.”

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Nick Pivetta outduels Jacob deGrom as Red Sox shut out Mets - Boston Herald
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