Nick Pivetta pitched two-hit ball, Xander Bogaerts hit a solo homer, Rafael Devers added an RBI double and the Boston Red Sox beat the Houston Astros 5-1 on Wednesday in the deciding game of their three-game series. .
It was the first complete game by a Red Sox pitcher since Chris Sale did it on June 5, 2019, in Kansas City. It was the first at Fenway Park since Rick Porcello got it on August 3, 2018 against the New York Yankees.
Puerto Ricans Kiké Hernández and Christian Vázquez produced singles for Boston, which won two of three against the team that defeated them in the American League Championship Series last season.
Pivetta (2-4) gave up a home run to Jose Altuve in the first at-bat of the game, but settled down to retire the next 18 batters as Boston built a 5-1 lead. The Astros got their second hit of the day until the seventh inning when Michael Brantley led off with a double.
Pivetta finished with eight strikeouts and no walks. He threw 112 pitches, 78 of which were for strikes.
Houston’s Luis Garcia (3-2) went four innings on the mound, allowing five hits, five runs (all earned), three walks and one home run while striking out four.
For the Astros, the Venezuelan José Altuve 4-1 with one scored and one produced; Cubans Aledmys Díaz and Yordan Álvarez 3-0; the Dominican Jeremy Peña 3-0 and the Puerto Rican Martín Maldonado 2-0.
For the Red Sox, the Dominicans Rafael Devers 3-2 with a run scored and an RBI, Franchy Cordero 3-0 with a run scored; Puerto Ricans Enrique Hernández 4-1 with a run scored and an RBI and Christian Vázquez 3-1 with an RBI.