"It's not something I'll forget anytime soon," Pivetta said. "That's for sure."
Behind Pivetta's performance the Philadelphia Phillies trumped the Boston Red Sox, 1-0.
Pivetta, 24, tossed seven scoreless innings and his fastball was electric, hovering around 95 mph for much of the night. He threw 107 pitches, 75 of which were fastballs. He struck out nine. The outing marked the first time a Phillies' starter had tossed seven scoreless frames since Jermey Hellickson pitched a shutout last September.
"It's the first time I really faced a guy like that," Pivetta said of facing Sale. "It was really exciting for me. I just tried to go out there and go toe-to-toe with him. I knew he was going to go out there and do his best. And he did. I just tried to stay with him as much as I could."
The game remained scoreless until the Phillies broke through on Sale in the eighth with Andrew Knapp scored from first on a Ty Kelly double to left. The play was close at the plate, but the move to send Knapp made sense.
"You're facing the best pitcher in the game, it's late, you do what you need to do," said Phillies third-base coach Juan Samuel.
The win snapped the Phillies eight-game losing streak.
What's Next
An impressive Arizona Diamondbacks team travels to Philadelphia to open a three-game set beginning tonight. The DBacks are in a tight race in the NL West, trailing the division leading Colorado Rockies by one game.
Aaron Nola (3-4, 4.40) has the ball tonight for the Phillies while Arizona counters with Patrick Corbin (5-6, 5.38)
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