Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta only gave up two hits in Boston's 7-2 victory over the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers on Sunday.
The two hits were solo home runs off the bats of Corey Seager and Josh Jung in the first two innings, which resulted in a brief mound visit to the Red Sox right-hander. Boston manager Alex Cora went out to chat with Pivetta after he surrendered the 373-foot dinger to Jung.
"Sometimes you got to remind these guys they're good," Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "... At the end of the day, he's one of our biggest competitors, and regardless of the stuff, he's still good enough. It was a reminder of, 'Hey, bro, I know you probably don't feel good right now, but you know how to compete, and we need you here.' He gave us enough today. ... The bullpen did an outstanding job."
Pivetta said he "locked back" into the game after Cora's brief check-in, and the Red Sox battled back from the 2-0 deficit. The Victoria, British Columbia native threw 62.8% of his pitches for strikes (44-of-70 pitches), striking out five batters in 4 2/3 innings. He was removed one out shy of qualifying for the decision, but felt confident in his teammates.
"I was able to hand the ball over to the bullpen, and they did a tremendous job, along with the hitters," Pivetta told reporters, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "This is a must-win series for us right now, and it takes a team effort to win that. I did my job, and they did their job."
Cam Booser, Zack Kelly, Brennan Bernardino, and Josh Winckowski combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings, with Kelly giving up the Rangers' only other hit.
