Boston Red Sox: Top 5 performances from a victorious ALDS series

No. 2: Nick Pivetta’s game-saving heroics in Game 3

Nick Pivetta was supposed to be Boston’s starting pitcher in Game 4. But when Game 3 ended up going to extra-innings, Cora quickly changed his plan. He brought Pivetta out of the pen, and the move probably couldn’t have ended up working out better than it did.

Pivetta ended up going four innings, despite the fact he went 4.2 innings in Game 1. All in all, Pivetta threw 140 pitches within a 72 hour span. That makes Pivetta’s brilliant outing in Game 3 all the more special.

Pivetta only gave up three hits and a walk during his four inning stint in extra innings. Pivetta’s ability to limit the traffic on the bases was crucial, as even one fluke run could have ended Boston’s night. To top if off, Pivetta picked up seven strikeouts, and was fired up each and every time he escaped another inning unscathed. His infectious attitude certainly gave Boston’s lineup the boost it needed to end the contest.

While it wasn’t the same as Nathan Eovaldi’s legendary six inning performance in extra innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2018 World Series, this was probably as close as we are going to get to a follow up on Eovaldi’s game.

Pivetta had to be perfect in order to keep the Red Sox alive, and he was. The most trouble he ran into was in the top of the 13th with Kiermaier’s double, but he stranded two runners in scoring position by picking up a huge strikeout against Mike Zunino. Boston would win the game only a few minutes later.

You can never have too many good arms in the postseason, and Pivetta was the best of the bunch thanks to his clutch pitching in Game 3. Without him, Boston doesn’t win this game. The Red Sox haven’t exactly gotten great outings from their starters, so expect to see Pivetta early and often in the ALCS again.