BSJ Game Report: Red Sox 7, Braves 1 - Nick Pivetta and bats power win over MLB's best

All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 7-1 win over the Braves, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Pivetta fits in relief: Nick Pivetta pitched five shutout innings and retired the final seven batters he saw in another stellar outing against one of the league's best lineups. The Red Sox improved to 5-0 in his July appearances, and Pivetta's ERA in relief improved to 1.98 while striking out five and walking one. Pivetta relieved John Schreiber immediately after his rough first inning, working around two runners in scoring position in the second before getting four straight outs on the ground, then working 1-2-3 innings in the fifth and sixth. He previously worked six shutout innings and stuck out a franchise record 13 in relief against Oakland earlier this month, and retired all three Mets he faced in the eighth inning of Saturday's win during the doubleheader.  

Singles piling up: Two singles and two walks, capped by another great Triston Casas at bat, produced the first Sox run in the first after falling behind 1-0. Christian Arroyo hit the go-ahead single up the left-field line that gave Boston the lead for good. Jarren Duran nearly turned a single into another run in the second, and a pair of baserunners to begin the third went down on base-running blunders that allowed a Braves triple play. Yu Chang's fourth-inning walk and steal attempt sent him to third on an Atlanta error, setting up Duran and Rafael Devers RBI singles. Chang singled in Casas after he and Connor Wong led off the fifth inning to push the lead to 5-1, then Masataka Yoshida provided eighth-inning insurance with a two-run homer -- after two singles. Six Red Sox reached base on walks, two on hit-by-pitches and 11 singled after Boston slapping the same amount in Sunday's win over the Mets.

THREE UP

Nick Pivetta: In 17 games of relief, Pivetta is now 4-2 with 58 strikeouts and 15 walks over 41 innings, while holding opponents to a .128 average. The Red Sox love opening games with relievers, and it's working for Pivetta, who posted a 6.30 ERA in his eight starts this year. Boston will need to find the right combinations to repeat this in the playoffs, or a solid, shorter starting rotation that can set up Pivetta for more effective relief appearances. Pivetta provides flexibility for a pitching that hasn't had much this season, and continues to climb out an early season hole. Since mid-May, the staff's ERA remains below 4.00 ERA after beginning the year over 5.00 as one of the worst in baseball. Pivetta worked a mid-90s fastball with sliders and curveballs through his middle innings as put-away pitches. Alex Cora compared his desire to work daily in his new relief role to David Price's 2018 playoff role. 

"He wants to contribute," Cora said. "What's he gonna do, just quit? He's getting paid to pitch for the Red Sox. We had a conversation about it, he was very honest, 'I don't like it, but I'm gonna give you my best.'" 

Jarren Duran: Got on first in the second inning when Braves starter Charlie Morton hit him. Duran stole second, advanced to third when Justin Turner flew out and ended the inning there. He gave the Sox their third run in the fourth inning, hitting home Chang with a single after he stole second and advanced to third, stealing second again himself, then racing home on Devers' ensuing single. He also tracked down eight fly balls in center field, his improved defense and mainstay production in the lineup making Kiké Hernández expendable. He's hitting .411 this month with six steals and 10 extra-base hits. Like the rest of Boston's lineup, he played station-to-station in Tuesday's win and generated two key runs to give Pivetta comfort on the mound.

Masataka Yoshida: Three more hits, including the lone and decisive extra-base hit in the eighth inning when he shot a Daysbel Hernández slider 101 miles per hour just over the right field wall for a 7-1 lead. His 3-4 night improved Yoshida to .320 this season and .397 in one of the hotter July performances across the majors. He broke a six-at-bat drought without a hit midway through Tuesday's game, and even his first-inning groundout moved over two runners to tie the game and take the lead after going down 1-0. 

It's worth mentioning his third-inning blunder, too, running into the third out of a triple play. Honorable mention to Chang and Arroyo, who drove one run home each and played sound defense in the middle of the infield with Hernández gone. 

TWO DOWN 

John Schreiber: Faltered in his first appearance since May 15 after a right teres major strain cost him months. Cora wanted to get his lone planned inning over work over with, and that plan eventually worked out by keeping Pivetta in relief. The Braves jumped all over him in the first though. Schreiber hit Ozzie Albies with his third pitch after recording a quick out. He put Austin Riley and Matt Olson on, then gave away an early lead on a Sean Murphy single. With the bases loaded, Marcell Ozuna lined into an out nobody realized occurred until the Sox appealed to third base, garnering a double play after Albies darted home to seemingly give Atlanta a 2-0 lead after Arroyo threw the ball away trying to set up a natural double play. It could've been worse. 

Adam Duvall: Even a Red Sox win had to feature an unfathomable mistake. Duvall darted to second base with no outs in the fourth inning after walking behind Yoshida, who began the inning with a single. Casas hit a high fly ball to Michael Harris II, Duvall's former teammate who tracked down most of the balls hit his way in center field on Tuesday. He caught the ball, doubled Duvall easily at first, then Olson threw out Yoshida at third for a rare triple play in a 2-1 game. Only two days prior, Jorge Alfaro allowed an inside-the-park home run with a defensive blunder, and both Devers and Arroyo, whose mistake got erased by the aforementioned appeal, tossed the ball away in the field. Those plays maintain uneasiness with this team's better play this month. Credit to Duvall for making up for his miscue with an over-the-shoulder grab in right field later in the game, and play-by-play announcer Dave O'Brien for calling the play unacceptable on the NESN broadcast. Here's how it sounded in Atlanta: 

"Duvall just read it bad," Cora said. "Then Masa took off to third when he threw to first." 

Alex Verdugo: Hitting .077 since July 8, he took a seat again in favor of Yoshida, Duran and Duvall across the outfield, his second consecutive game on the bench. He went hitless in 5-of-6 games prior, with only three extra base hits in 55 July at bats. It took time for Verdugo, a borderline all-star hitter to start the year, to turn cold. Now, in the daily lineup crunch where Yoshida and Duran remain mainstays, he'll have a tougher case to squeeze into every lineup, especially with Justin Turner struggling to sneak over to second base in this team's reeling infield. 

NOTABLE

Cora and teammates reacted to the Hernández trade, completed shortly before a rain delay postponed Tuesday's win by nearly two hours. Chaim Bloom and Boston's front office involved Hernández in trade conversations, ultimately returning him to his long-time home in Los Angeles on a contending Dodgers team. Boston needed to clear a roster spot to reinstate Brayan Bello from paternity leave, and Pablo Reyes' return at shortstop displaced Hernández, struggling offensively and defensively all season, from the infield after four hitters emerged in front of him in the outfield. Trevor Story's impending return further crowded shortstop. 

Hernández retained his full $10 million salary by avoiding a DFA, and Boston sent $2.5 million in cash to return Triple-A relievers Nick Robertson and Justin Hagenman. Cora, a strong advocate for Hernández' shortstop defense despite poor numbers there, lamented Hernández playing for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic instead of practicing the position change at Red Sox spring training. 

“I love that kid," Cora said. "He’s going to be OK.”

Boston also re-signed Franklin German to a minor league contract, whom the Red Sox traded to the White Sox in February. 

UP NEXT 

7/26 vs. ATL, 7:10 p.m., RHP Spencer Strider (11-3, 3.78) vs. RHP Bryan Bello (7-6, 3.60), ESPN