The Boston Red Sox have been able to exceed expectations to this point in the year because their starting pitching has been much better than expected. Nick Pivetta has been a big part of the starting rotation, and he put his name in the team's record book Thursday night when the Red Sox hosted the Detroit Tigers.
NICK PIVETTA WITH HIS 8TH STRAIGHT STRIKEOUT! TIES ROGER CLEMENS FOR THE FRANCHISE RECORD!
Pivetta was throwing the ball with authority in the early innings, and he struck out eight consecutive batters from the first through third innings. Those eight consecutive strikeouts tied the team record that had been hold solely by Boston legend Roger Clemens. The Rocket achieved that feat during the 1986 season.
Pivetta started the game by walking Matt Vierling and Riley Greene followed with a ground ball force out. After that, the Red Sox pitcher caught fire. He struck out Matt Canha and Gio Urshela to close the first.
Pivetta then struck out the side in both the second and third innings. Catcher Carson Kelly was the eighth and final batter in the strikeout streak. Greene ended the run when he grounded out to second base.
Clemens came into his own in 1986 effort for Red Sox
Clemens is one of the most dominant pitchers in Red Sox history, but it was his performance against the Seattle Mariners early in 1986 that served as his welcome to the team's halcyon of pitching greats. Clemens struck out 20 Mariners on the night of April 29.
Clemens struck out the side in the fourth and fifth innings, and when he struck out the first two batters in the sixth inning, he had set a new Red Sox record with eight consecutive strikeouts.
That game was scoreless at that point, but the Red Sox would go on to win the game by a 3-1 margin. The Red Sox knew they had a brilliant right-handed power pitcher on their hands and he would go on to have a 24-4 season with a league best 2.48 earned run average and 238 strikeouts. The Red Sox would win the American League pennant that season before losing the World Series in painful fashion to the New York Mets.
Pivetta pitched into the sixth inning for Red Sox before he was relieved
Once the strikeout streak came to an end, Pivetta had a clean 4th inning that included two ground ball outs before Urshela sent a drive to right field that was caught for the third out of the inning.
Pivetta seemed to be in control in the fifth inning when he retired Cole Keith on a ground ball, but recent call-up Akil Baddoo smacked a home run to the opposite field over the Green Monster in left field for the first hit and first run in the game. The Tigers would add a second run on Canha's RBI single.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora pulled Nick Pivetta after that and replaced him with Greg Weissert.
Detroit starting pitcher Jack Flaherty was having a brilliant game himself, striking out eight and not allowing a hit through six innings.
