Pivetta roughed up against former club in Padres loss
Boston Red Sox's Wilyer Abreu, right, celebrates his two-run home run with third base coach Kyle Hudson during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, in San Diego. (Gregory Bull/AP)
In a matchup of two teams riding blazing saddles, one team had to win and one team had to lose.
Nick Pivetta had only allowed three earned runs or more in two of his first eleven starts at Petco Park.
Friday night was the third instance, as Pivetta was ultimately charged with five earned runs in six innings. It did not appear as though that would be the case initially, as the Padres right-hander did not allow a hit over the first three innings.
The fourth inning saw things begin to unravel, as a ground-ball single and two walks loaded the bases with no outs. A sacrifice fly by Boston DH Masataka Yoshida would bring in the first run of the game, moving the two lead runners. Pivetta attempted a pickoff on Trevor Story at first, but the throw got past Luis Arraez, allowing Jarren Duran to score from third.
After retiring Abraham Toro, Pivetta fell behind 2-1 to Wilyer Abreu. Trying to get another strike, Pivetta threw a curveball aimed for below the zone, but the pitch caught way too much plate. Abreu launched the curve to deep right-center field, extending the Red Sox lead to 4-0.
Wilyer got all of that one! 💪 pic.twitter.com/gphApy8LZV
— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 9, 2025
Boston would tack on another in the fifth as two singles to open the fifth put runners on the corners right away. Pivetta got a weak grounder by Alex Bregman to get an out, but a run came in to score in the back door.
Pivetta would get out of the inning without further damage, and worked around a lead-off double in the sixth inning. Pivetta has now pitched six or more innings in 17 of 23 starts this season, and at this pace is in line to surpass his career high in innings (179.2 in 2022).
Lots of hard contact by the Red Sox against Nick Pivetta tonight. pic.twitter.com/mS8tejrjyi
— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) August 9, 2025
San Diego’s offense had a difficult time against former division rival Walker Buehler. The last time San Diego faced Buehler, they knocked him around for six runs in five innings in Game 3 of the 2024 National League Division Series.
Tonight was very different, more in line with Buehler’s career numbers in the regular season against San Diego. The former Dodger added to his career resume against the Padres, as he went six innings of scoreless baseball. It was Buehler’s first time pitching six scoreless in any start since May of 2024. Luis Arraez led the Padres’ offense with two hits against the Sox starter, while the rest of the Padres mustered only two hits and two walks against Buehler. Manny Machado’s single in the fifth inning (hit at 105.3 mph) was their hardest hit ball against the Red Sox right-hander.
Yuki Matsui came on in relief after Pivetta and got four outs in relief. His splitter looked back to form in the game, getting whiffs on 67% of swings against. Matsui made way for Sean Reynolds in the eighth, but Reynolds struggled to find a consistent release point. He walked the first three batters he faced to load the bases with one out, before a double by Connor Wong cleared the bases, extending the Sox’s lead to 8-0. Reynolds escaped the jam with help from his defense, as Jake Cronenworth made an impressive over-the-shoulder catch on a pop-up by Jarren Duran, throwing home to get Connor Wong in a rundown to end the frame.
Wong clears ’em! pic.twitter.com/c8tiBfH2zn
— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 9, 2025
At this point down 8-0, Mike Shildt began to empty his bench, turning to Bryce Johnson to open the eighth. Johnson worked a walk against former Torero Chris Murphy. Jose Iglesias and Ryan O’Hearn then drew walks of their own to load the bases. Ramon Laureano hit into a forceout to break the shutout, and Jake Cronenworth (who has hit .231 against left-handed pitching this season) lined a single to left to score Iglesias. Alex Cora turned to right-hander Garrett Whitlock out of the bullpen, and Whitlock ended the Padres rally by striking out Fernando Tatis Jr and getting a lazy fly ball from Luis Arraez.
Masataka Yoshida homered off the struggling Reynolds in the ninth to get Boston their two runs back. Reynolds would get out of the inning without further damage, but labored through 52 pitches in 1.2 innings. Red Sox right-hander Isaiah Campbell retired the final three Padres in the ninth to end the game, sealing a 10-2 Padre loss.
With the loss and a Dodger win, San Diego now sits three games behind Los Angeles for the division lead.
The Padres are set to welcome back right-hander Michael King on Saturday for the middle game of a three-game set. A roster move is yet to be announced, though Sean Reynolds will likely be optioned after his workload tonight.
Parting Notes:
- Luis Arraez had a two-hit game for the Padres. He had been 1-for-14 in San Diego’s three-game sojourn to Arizona.
- Fernando Tatis Jr struck out swinging three times in the Padres’ loss. After a hot July that saw him hit .308 with a .921 OPS, he has struggled to open August, going 2-for-26 with eight strikeouts.
San Diego returns to action Saturday at 5:15 pm. Michael King will take the mound for the first time since May 18 vs Seattle, while Lucas Giolito takes the hill for the Red Sox.
A born and raised San Diegan, Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd. Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024. He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball”, creating content around trades, hypotheticals, player analyses, the San Diego Padres, and MLB as a whole.
A 2024 graduate of San Diego State, Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community.