No Canadian-born pitcher has delivered in the post-season quite like Nick Pivetta, and the right-hander further added to that legacy on Tuesday afternoon.
After a career-best regular season saw the Victoria, B.C., native earn the start in Game 1 of the wild-card round for the San Diego Padres, Pivetta climbed a number of Canadian leaderboards with his performance against the Chicago Cubs.
Pivetta struck out nine over five innings of two-run ball, tying James Paxton for most punchouts by a Canuck in a playoff game.
In addition to the single-game mark, the 32-year-old set the record for most career strikeouts and innings pitched by a Canadian in the post-season.
Pivetta improved his marks to 23 strikeouts and 18.2 innings after serving as a key member of the Boston Red Sox's pitching staff during a run to the ALCS in 2021.
While the Cubs were able to solve Pivetta, with back-to-back home runs in the fifth, the nine-year MLB veteran shut the door from there, striking out the next three hitters to end his outing.
"I thought Nick was fantastic. He was terrific," Padres manager Mike Shildt said post-game. "Got a few balls, I think the Suzuki pitch more than the Carson pitch, was pitched more middle..., but I thought Nicky was fantastic and then it was about the bullpens."
Pivetta landed with the Padres on a four-year, $55 million deal in the off-season and finally put it all together, emerging as San Diego's ace. He made 31 starts for his third MLB club, posting a 2.87 ERA and 13-5 record over 181.2 innings. Pivetta also continued to punch out hitters at an elite rate, racking up 190 on the season — the ninth most in the National League.
The 2025 post-season is shaping up to provide its fair share of Canadian content on the mound. Cade Smith and Erik Sabrowski already toed the rubber for the Cleveland Guardians earlier Tuesday, and all three of Michael Soroka, Matt Brash and Rob Zastryzny could play significant roles out of the bullpen in the coming month.
With the Padres dropping Game 1, Pivetta will hope his club can rally in the best-of-three and give him another chance to take the ball in the NLDS.
