MLB round-up: Pivetta pitch-perfect for Red Sox, as Brewers and Rangers find late wins
Nick Pivetta allowed just two hits and no walks in his complete game for the Boston Red Sox, while there were two extra-innings walk-offs.
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Nick Pivetta rebounded from a disappointing start to throw a complete game, beating the Houston Astros 5-1. Pivetta was put on the back foot straight away, as Houston’s lead-off hitter, Jose Altuve, forced him to throw nine pitches before sending the 10th over the ‘Green Monster’ for a home run to left-field.
The Astros would only register one more hit in the entire game as Pivetta found his footing, though, retiring 18 consecutive batters until a double in the seventh inning, and then another nine consecutive batters to close out the contest. Despite conceding so early, the Red Sox reclaimed the lead later in the first frame, as Rafael Devers was brought home after his triple, before Xander Bogaerts hit a solo home run to make it 2-1.
Another extra-base hit from Devers in the third inning brought home Boston’s third run, and the home side then manufactured another two tallies in the fourth, never allowing the Astros back into the contest. The win moves the struggling Red Sox to 15-22 for the season, while the Astros are in a much stronger position, tied for the third-best record in the majors at 24-14.
Hiura the hero for Brewers
Keston Hiura crushed a massive walk-off home run to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 7-6 win against the Atlanta Braves in extra innings.
The Braves led 4-0 after three innings, but the Brewers were able to fight back, tying the game with a two-out triple in the bottom of the ninth and final frame to keep the game alive.
After both teams scored a run each in the 10th, the Braves added another in the top of the 11th, before Hiura’s two-run, 447-foot blast to center-field closed the show.
Lowe sends one high for the win
After Jared Walsh tied things up for the Los Angeles Angels at 4-4 with a ninth-inning home run, Nathaniel Lowe came back to bomb a two-run walk-off to give the Texas Rangers a 6-5 win in extra innings.
It was a solid start on the mound for Angels star Shohei Ohtani, pitching six full innings for two earned runs and seven strikeouts, but the Rangers capitalised once he exited with solo home runs in the seventh and eighth frames.
Walsh’s two-run homer sent the game to extra innings, and the Angels scored first at the top of the 10th, but Lowe wasted no time ending things, leading off the bottom of the 10th and blasting the first pitch over the wall to win it.