All you need to know about the Red Sox' win over the Mets, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Red Sox scratch out the only run they need: Facing Jacob deGrom, inarguably the best starting pitcher in the game, the Red Sox knew they were in for a battle. They managed just four hits all night, but fortunately, they bunched two of them close together in the second inning. Xander Bogaerts doubled to left to lead off and after a groundout to the right side moved him to third base, Christian Vazquez slammed a pitch to the alley in right-center, enabling Bogaerts to trot home with what would turn out to be the only run of the night. Vazquez was coming off a three strikeout night on Tuesday and before the game, Alex Cora said he hoped his catcher would be short to the ball and hit the ball to right-center -- which is exactly what Vazquez did at exactly the biggest moment in the game.
Pivetta makes deGrom work: Nick Pivetta, who came into the game with nine career hits, didn't collect his 10th against deGrom in the third inning, but he did the next best thing: he made deGrom earn his strikeout against him. Pivetta took some good hacks against the ace, repeatedly fouling off pitches until finally, he went down swinging for the first out of inning. Importantly, though, Pivetta dragged the at-bat out for 10 pitches, adding to deGrom's pitch count and perhaps prevented him from coming out for the seventh inning. "I was just trying to compete against him, do the best I could and try to wear his pitches as much I could,'' recalled Pivetta, "and luckily it worked out in my favor.''
Whitlock dazzles: At the start of the year, the Red Sox saw Rule 5 rookie Garrett Whitlock as an intriguing prospect, one whom they would use mostly as a multi-inning reliever. But it's a measure of how much he's earned the trust of Cora that Whitlock is now being entrusted in far more demanding circumstances. Case in point: on Wednesday night, when Pivetta's pitch count climbed over 90 after five innings, Whitlock was handed the ball and asked to protect the slimmest of leads. He did so over not one, but two innings, striking out four while allowing a single and a walk. Whitlock's changeup befuddled Mets' hitters and he occasionally overpowered them with a fastball at 95-96 mpg.
TURNING POINT
It may well have come in the bottom of the first inning when Pivetta walked the first two hitters he faced. With no margin for error given against whom he was pitching, Pivetta couldn't afford to allow the Mets to have a big first inning against him. Fortunately for the Red Sox, Pivetta figured some things out quickly and retired the next three hitters he faced -- the 3-4-5 hitters in the New York lineup -- stranding two Mets baserunners.
TWO UP
Rafael Devers: Hits were at a premium for both sides, but somehow, Devers managed to get two of them -- a double in the fourth and a single off the end of his bat in the seventh.
Adam Ottavino: After some early struggles, it would appear the veteran reliever has found his equilibrium. He turned in a perfect 1-2-3 eighth inning to get the ball to closer Matt Barnes.
TWO DOWN
J.D. Martinez: It was a long night at the plate for Martinez, who, after a flyout for the final out in the first, didn't make contact with a pitch again, striking out two times against deGrom and once more against reliever Edwin Diaz.
Franchy Cordero: For the second straight night, Cordero came off the bench in the eighth inning to pinch hit, and for the second straight night, struck out. He now has one hit in his last 21 at-bats.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"I think I'm just as good as deGrom. The way that I go into it, I have to mentally put myself (in a space) where I'm as good as deGrom and I'm going to beat deGrom. That's just what I have to do.'' Nick Pivetta.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- The win stretched the Red Sox win streak to three games.
- Matt Barnes is now 6-for-6 in save opportunities and has struck out half of the hitters he's faced (25-of-50).
- Adam Ottavino has not allowed a hit in his last six appearances, with hitters 0-for-16 with eight strikeouts.
- The last 13 games in New York between the Mets and Sox have all been decided by one or two runs.