All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the White Sox, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Pivetta delivers after layoff: The Red Sox didn't know what to expect from Nick Pivetta, and in all likelihood, Pivetta didn't know, either. Pivetta had been out of commission for the last week or more, having been placed on the COVID-IL. Granted, Pivetta was asymptomatic the entire time, but he still hadn't faced competition since his last start, at Tropicana Field against the Rays, more than two weeks ago. That's a long layoff, especially with Pivetta having to quarantine for a portion of that layoff. The most he could do during that time, he revealed, was to go to an empty field and throw balls against a fence. He then threw 10 pitches off the mound Saturday in preparation. Given all that, Pivetta exceeded all expectations Sunday, going 5.1 innings and allowing just one run -- an unearned run at that -- while yielding just three hits and fanning five. There was no rust evident, even if his fastball velocity was down some early. But as far as control and the ability to command his pitches, Pivetta aced this test and deserved a better fate than a non-decision.
Bats quieted: After scoring nine runs on Saturday night, the Red Sox looked like a different team Sunday afternoon in the series finale at Guaranteed Rate Field. They collected just four hits, and the first three of those were singles. They didn't come up with an extra-base hit until the ninth when Kike Hernandez belted a booming double to the warning track in center, and later came around to score the tying run. But the Sox also fanned 13 times -- they had struck out 15 times in 10 innings Saturday night -- and too often seemed intent on swinging for the fences rather than putting the ball in play. Even the approach in the ninth was off. After Craig Kimbrel walked two in a row to load the bases, the Sox were poised to capitalize with a base hit, putting them up for the first time all afternoon. Instead, Alex Verdugo swung at the first pitch for sacrifice fly and Bobby Dalbec chased a couple of pitches outside the strike zone to go down swinging, leaving two runners on.
SECOND GUESS
In the eighth inning, the Sox had the bottom of their order due, trailing 1-0. After Travis Shaw flied to center for the first out, Alex Cora had Xander Bogaerts hit for backup catcher Kevin Plawecki. Bogaerts grounded out for the second out. Then, with Plawecki out of the game and knowing that Christian Vazquez would be taking over behind the plate in the bottom of the inning anyway, Cora allowed light-hitting Jose Iglesias to hit for himself, resulting in a groundout. Why not hit Vazquez, who had a five-game hitting streak and is swinging a hot bat (8-for-21) in that stretch? There's no guarantee that Vazquez would have gotten a hit, of course, but it stands to reason that his chances were better than that of Iglesias, who was going to come out of the game anyway. Iglesias had two singles in his first two trips, but Vazquez stood a better chance of driving the ball and getting himself into scoring position.
ONE UP
Alex Verdugo: The Sox got almost nothing going offensively, but at least Verdugo produced a game-tying sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning.
TWO DOWN
Kyle Schwarber: Though he may have been victimized by some calls by the home plate umpire, Schwarber had a rough day offensively and defensively. He was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts at the plate, then threw to the wrong base in the sixth inning.
Bobby Dalbec: The team's hottest hitter cooled off with the bat, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* The game marked the 100th career start for Nick Pivetta.
* The defeat was the fifth walkoff loss of the season for the Red Sox.
* The series loss was the first on the road for the Red Sox since being swept in New York on Aug. 18-19.
UP NEXT: It's on to the West Coast for the Red Sox, who meet the Seattle Mariners in the first of three Monday night at 10:10 p.m. It will be LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (11-8, 5.15) vs. RHP Logan Gilbert (5-5, 5.10).