SAN DIEGO -- Nick Pivetta admitted to being extra excited facing his former team for the first time.
Unfortunately for Pivetta, that excitement worked against him.
Pivetta allowed five runs in six innings as the Padres fell to the Red Sox, 10-2, on Friday night at Petco Park. The five earned runs Pivetta allowed were his most in his last 11 starts, dating back to June 4 at San Francisco.
“I have a lot of love and respect for those guys over there, so just wanted to put my best foot forward and give a challenge,” Pivetta said. “Obviously, they were able to get the better of me today. I think it was just excitement.”
After five seasons with the Red Sox, Pivetta signed a four-year, $55 million contract with the Padres in the offseason and quickly emerged as their most reliable starter. He entered the evening allowing the fewest hits per nine innings in the National League (6.2) and ranked in the top 10 in wins and ERA while averaging more than a strikeout per inning.
The Red Sox, however, were ready for him. Pivetta allowed five hits, walked three and recorded just three strikeouts, tying his season low.
“I think it was a mix of things,” Pivetta said. “… I think when you fall behind in counts, and they work some good at-bats, it's hard to get them to swing and miss when you're behind. So just wasn't able to execute those pitches.”
Things started off well enough. Pivetta cruised through the first three innings without allowing a hit. He faced just one batter over the minimum and appeared on his way to another dominant start in a season full of them.
Then the wheels came off in a four-run fourth.
Pivetta allowed a leadoff single to Alex Bregman and issued back-to-back walks to Jarren Duran and Trevor Story to load the bases with no outs to open the inning.
The Red Sox gladly took advantage of the opportunity.
Masataka Yoshida lifted a sacrifice fly to bring Bregman home and open the scoring. Two pitches later, Pivetta compounded his problems by throwing away a pickoff attempt to first base, allowing Duran to trot home on a run-scoring error.
Visibly frustrated, Pivetta proceeded to fall behind Wilyer Abreu before hanging a 2-1 curveball that Abreu walloped a Statcast-projected 423 feet, into the right-center-field stands for a two-run homer.
It marked the first time Pivetta allowed four or more runs in an inning this season. He had allowed four runs in an entire outing only four times all season.
“First three [innings], fantastic,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “Fourth, he just lost the plate a little bit.”
Pivetta allowed another run in the fifth before pushing through to complete six innings.
“I mean, I got myself into some damage,” Pivetta said. “I walked guys, didn't locate pitches, allowed them to get back into ABs. Like I said, they were really executing on the pitches that I missed on.”
The positive is the Padres have the opportunity to turn the page quickly. Opening Day starter Michael King is set to come off the injured list on Saturday and will make his first start in nearly three months.
For a Padres team trying to chase down the Dodgers in the National League West, it’s a very welcome return.
“It's a pretty good day when Michael's back on the mound for us,” Shildt said. “Uncharacteristic game that got away from us today. We don't play many of those at all, and so we'll be ready to go tomorrow.”