Nick Pivetta’s outing against the Padres in the Red Sox’ 9-2 loss quickly went sideways on Friday.
The right-handed starter pitched four shutout innings to open Friday’s game before San Diego tagged him for five runs in the fifth. Ha-Seong Kim opened the inning with a double and Kyle Higashioka knocked him in with a two-run homer in the ensuing at-bat. Bryce Johnson hit a ground-rule double, Luis Arraez hit a single, and Jurickson Profar walked in the following three at-bats.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora opted to end Pivetta’s day there, pulling his starter after he failed to record an out and loaded up the bases in the fifth inning.