Nate Pivetta of Victoria, British Columbia went into the Boston Red Sox record books on Monday. The right hander broke the franchise record for most strikeouts in a game by a reliever with 13 as the Red Sox defeated the Oakland Athletics 7-0.
Pivetta came into the game to begin the third inning. He faced 20 batters during six innings, and struck out 65% of the batters who came to the plate. Pivetta also did not give up an earned run, and gave up two walks and zero hits. The Athletics only had one hit the entire game.
The previous Red Sox record belonged to Diego Segui on September 22, 1974. Segui of Holguin, Cuba had 12 strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings of work in a 7-2 Red Sox loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
The major league record belongs to former Montreal Expos pitcher Randy Johnson of Walnut Creek, California. Johnson had 16 strikeouts as a reliever in a 3-0 Arizona Diamondbacks win over the San Diego Padres on July 18, 2001.
In 2023, Pivetta has a record of six wins and five losses with an earned run average of 4.44. During 23 games and 75 innings pitched, he has given up 58 hits, 37 earned runs and 33 walks, to go along with 94 strikeouts, two holds, and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.21. Pivetta’s holds came in a 3-2 Red Sox win over the New York Yankees on June 9 and in a 3-1 Red Sox win over the Chicago White Sox on June 23.
With the win, the Red Sox improved to a record of 51 wins and 44 losses. They are one and a half games back of the Houston Astros for the final playoff spot in the American League.
