SEATTLE — On a night when Nick Pivetta dazzled, the Boston Red Sox offense sputtered without one of its biggest bats.
Rafael Devers, one night removed from hitting a 400-foot homer in the opener, had been in the starting lineup Friday night, but shortly before game time, he was scratched with left shoulder soreness.
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Devers, who wore a medicated patch on the shoulder in the clubhouse after a 1-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners, was hopeful he could return to the lineup Saturday, but manager Alex Cora seemed a bit more cautious.
“He showed up today and he wasn’t moving well, he didn’t feel great,” Cora said. “We have to be smart about it. He’s day to day.”
Devers took a round of batting practice before the game to see if the soreness subsided before telling Cora he thought he should sit out the game.
Devers said the soreness first cropped up at the end of spring training, not on any one play, but from swinging against the hitting machine. He explained that the machine changes speeds to simulate game action, and he swung hard on what ended up being a changeup and tweaked it.
“In Fort Myers, the pain wasn’t that big,” he said through interpreter Carlos Villoria-Benetiz. “I was able to handle it and play with it. But playing with that pain, it was getting worse and worse and worse to the point where I decided to stop.”
Cora said they’d reevaluate Devers on Saturday, but given Devers’ importance to the club, it wouldn’t be surprising if they choose to sit him at least another game or two.
Without Devers’ bat, the Red Sox offense faced an uphill battle against one of the league’s best pitchers in 26-year-old Mariners starter George Kirby. The Red Sox’s lone chance against him came in the first inning. On a chilly night, Kirby struggled with command early, uncharacteristically walking two of the first three batters. Kirby had walked just 19 batters in 190 2/3 innings last season. But the Red Sox couldn’t capitalize, with Trevor Story striking out and Triston Casas flying out.
From that point, Kirby locked in.
After walking the second batter of the game, Kirby retired 19 of the next 20 batters before a Ceddanne Rafaela single to right field knocked him out of the game with two outs in the seventh at 99 pitches.
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Pablo Reyes, pinch hitting for Enmanuel Valdez, smacked the first pitch he saw off reliever Gabe Speier for a single to right, giving the Red Sox a scoring chance, but Bobby Dalbec struck out to end the threat. In the eighth, Reese McGuire drew a leadoff walk and moved to third on a two-out Masataka Yoshida single up the middle, but Story grounded out. The early chance against Kirby was their best shot.
“We didn’t cash in, and (Kirby) found his rhythm,” Cora said. “That’s why he is who he is. He’s a tough customer.”
Pivetta matched Kirby’s dominance most of the night, blanking the Mariners through five innings. But with one out in the sixth, Mariners leadoff man J.P. Crawford turned on a cutter from Pivetta and pulled it just inside the foul pole in right for a solo homer.
Pivetta buckled down and struck out the final two batters of the inning. The right-hander finished with one run allowed on three hits. He didn’t issue a walk and struck out 10 batters, registering 17 swings and misses, including six in that final frame.
Part of Pivetta’s success from the second half of last season through this spring, has been in incorporating a sweeper, or horizontal slider, a pitch that’s taken the league by storm over the last couple of seasons.
On Friday, Pivetta threw 28 of them, nearly one-third of his pitch mix, and induced eight swings-and-misses with the pitch.
“Yeah, it’s been a huge contributor to my success, giving me another look,” he said. “I know it’s early, but my feel for that pitch has been good.”
Last season after early-season struggles led to Pivetta being removed from the rotation, he was key for the Red Sox out of the bullpen before translating that success back to the rotation at the end of the year. As the veteran starter on a young pitching staff, Pivetta is hoping for a more consistent season and to pick up where he left off last year.
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“I think I’m carrying just as much momentum from last season into the season,” he said.
The Red Sox head into Saturday with Kutter Crawford facing yet another tough Mariners starter in Logan Gilbert as concern over the status of Devers’ shoulder lingers.
(Top photo of Nick Pivetta: Stephen Brashear / USA Today)
