When the Boston Red Sox come to the plate in the top of the first inning on Friday, they’ll be facing a familiar opponent.

Nick Pivetta takes the hill for the San Diego Padres after spending four seasons in Boston. By the numbers, he’s having the best season of his career . He’s 11-3 with a 2.73 ERA over 128 2/3 innings.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora isn’t exactly surprised by the improvements .

“Good season, Nick [Pivetta] is a good pitcher,” Cora said. “As far as the numbers, similar to last year. Same thing, different ballpark. [In San Diego], flyballs don’t go. At Fenway, flyballs, they go out of the ballpark.”

Cora isn’t wrong; the numbers are similar in many ways. His hard hit rate is actually higher than it was in 2024, and he’s allowing more fly balls. The difference is, as Cor

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