Alex Cora on Nick Pivetta’s start against the Yankees: ‘One thing we liked today is that he threw strikes’
Nick Pivetta made his second start of the spring against the Yankees on Thursday. The righty struggled during his start, but threw strikes and was able to limit the damage over two innings.
Pivetta began the game with a scoreless first inning. He set the Yankees lineup down 1-2-3 but ran into issues in the second inning. His only problem he experienced in the first inning was issuing an 11-pitch walk to Aaron Judge.
During that at-bat, Pivetta threw eight fastballs, including two that clocked in 96.5 mph 96.1 mph. The only two times he clocked in at 96 mph on the day.
The 30-year-old threw 33 pitches in the Yankees half of the second inning. Pivetta walked two Yankees batters, Josh Donaldson and Rafael Ortega. They would both score on a Jose Trevino base hit into right field.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora would remove Pivetta from the game after 48 total pitches. He threw 28 of his first 48 pitches for strikes.
Pivetta would come back into the game in the third inning, and threw nine more pitches. He allowed Judge to reach on a line drive base hit to left to begin the inning. The right-handed hurler would get Anthony Rizzo to strikeout in a five-pitch at-bat.
Pivetta’s final pitching line was, 2 innings pitched, giving up three hits, walked three, struck out two, while surrendering two earned runs.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora was overall pleased with his starters outing.
“One thing we liked today is that he threw strikes,” manager Alex Cora said. “They put good at-bats on him, but he kept pounding the strike zone. … [There were] a lot of foul balls and he ended up walking guys, but I feel like it’s a step in the right direction.”
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