Seattle Mariners sweep the A’s, here’s what to root for on the M’s off day
September 30, 2021 – What to Root For Today
Boston vs. Baltimore – 4:05 PM PST
The series is tied at one apiece after the Red Sox Nathan Eovaldi pitched six innings of shutout baseball Wednesday, leading Boston to a 6-0 win. Thursday Sox starter Nick Pivetta (9-7, 4.52 ERA) takes on 24-year-old southpaw Alexander Wells (1-3, 7.61 ERA).
Wells started for the Orioles against the Red Sox on September 19, going 5 innings and giving up 5 earned runs. At the Major League level, Wells’s 2021 is a train wreck. In Triple-A this year, he was 6-3, 3.29 ERA, with a 1.02 WHIP (walks + hits/innings pitched), and featured fantastic control.
Mariners fans are rooting for the Triple-A version of Wells to show up and for Pivetta to be the Pivetta that pitched on 9/19 against the O’s. That day, he couldn’t get out of the fourth inning.
The 28-year-old former Philadelphia Phillies right-hander is having his best season and has a chance to get to 10 wins for the first time in his career. Pivetta is always a little wild but still strikes out a bunch of batters.
Aside from the rough outing two weeks ago, he dominated Baltimore this season. In four starts, against Pivetta is 3-0 with a 4.15 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 21.2 innings pitched. While he’s given up five home runs, Red Sox bats have picked him up, beating up on the Orioles’ beleaguered pitching staff.