BOSTON — Red Sox righty Nick Pivetta threw four scoreless innings to open his start Friday. But the Padres scored nine runs in the fifth inning before Pivetta and reliever Greg Weissert recorded a single out.
Red Sox lose: 9 consecutive Padres batters reach base in devastating 9-run inning.
Pivetta allowed five straight batters to reach and Weissert allowed four straight hitters to reach. The Red Sox lost 9-2 here at Fenway Park.
Pivetta showed increased fastball velocity. His 37 four-seam fastballs averaged 95.2 mph, up from an average velo of 94.3 mph in his first 11 starts (per Baseball Savant). But his sweeper gave him some trouble.
He ended up allowing five runs (all earned), seven hits and one walk while striking out four. His ERA jumped from 4.06 to 4.52.
Ha-Seong Kim led off the fifth with a single. Kyle Higashioka then connected on Pivetta’s sweeper for a two-run homer that put the Padres ahead 2-1.
Bryce Johnson followed with a ground-rule double. Luis Arraez singled. Pivetta walked Jurickson Profar to load the bases. Cora pulled the righty at 73 pitches and replaced him with Weissert.
Three of the seven hits Pivetta allowed, including both extra-base hits, came against his sweeper. He allowed three hits on his four-seamer and one hit on his slider.
Weissert allowed two-run singles to both Jake Cronenworth and Donovan Solano. Jackson Merrill took the righty reliever deep for a three-run homer that made it 9-1 Padres.
New dad Connor Wong — fresh off the paternity list — put the Red Sox ahead 1-0 in the fourth inning with a two-out RBI single to right field. Wong spent Monday-Wednesday away from the team while home in Texas for the birth of his second child.
The Red Sox scored just one run in the fourth inning despite putting two men on base with no outs. Tyler O’Neill struck out swinging and Masataka Yoshida flied out before Wong came through with two outs. Dom Smith lined out to end the frame.
Rafael Devers’ 439-foot homer in the sixth inning cut it to 9-2.
Chase Anderson allowed just one hit in 4 scoreless innings to save the Red Sox bullpen.
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