Nick Pivetta dominant again as Padres beat Tigers

Kevin Acee, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Apr 22, 2025

Published in Baseball

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DETROIT — Nick Pivetta pitched on Tuesday like something he has never been before this season.

An ace.

He huffed and puffed. He stalked. He made his displeasure with a few ball calls known.

He allowed two hits and shut out a first place team over seven innings and did all he could to get the San Diego Padres a victory they badly needed.

His catcher did the rest.

The only runs in the Padres’ 2-0 win over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park came on Elias Díaz’s two-run homer in the second inning.

The victory ensured the Padres would be at least remain tied with the Dodgers and/or Mets for the best record in the major leagues.

They can thank the 32-year-old right-hander who is off to the best start of his career.

Tuesday was Pivetta’s third time this season going seven innings and not allowing a run. Through five starts, his 1.20 ERA ranks third in the National League. His .155 average allowed is best in the National League.

Tigers starter Jack Flaherty was less effective than Pivetta only because he went to his dastardly knuckle curveball one too many times early and left it just a little too much in the strike zone. And because Díaz hit it just far enough for his first home run of the season two batters after Xander Bogaerts led off the second inning with an infield single.

Flaherty had already thrown eight curves to the first seven Padres batters. He had gotten two misses on three swings, ended two of his four strikeouts and induced a groundout with the pitch.

The one he threw to Díaz on a 2-2 count was at the knees, and the Padres’ catcher sent it a projected 352 feet, just far enough to clear the glove of left fielder Riley Greene, who hung on the wall for a few seconds after the ball sailed past his reach.

Flaherty would finish six innings for the first time this season, striking out nine. The Padres missed 10 of the 14 times they swung at his knuckle curveball.

But that one hit was enough because Pivetta kept getting out after out with his own fine curve and a mid-90s fastball that hitters can’t catch up to.

Pivetta walked two and allowed a pair of two-out singles. The Tigers did not have more than one runner in any inning and did not get anyone past first base after the first inning.

Jason Adam worked the eighth, getting some help from a couple plays by second baseman Mason McCoy, and Robert Suarez in the ninth for his major league-leading 10th save.

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