DETROIT — Nick Pivetta continued to pitch on Tuesday like something he has never been before.
An ace.
He huffed and puffed. He scowled and stalked. He made his displeasure with a few ball calls known.
He did all he could to get the Padres a victory they badly needed, allowing just two hits over seven innings and shutting out a team that began the day leading its division.
Catcher Elias Díaz provided all the offense the Padres would need with a two-run homer in the second inning, and relievers Jason Adam and Robert Suarez closed out a 2-0 victory over the Tigers with a scoreless inning apiece.
“Fortunately, we had Nick Pivetta,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “And Adam and Suarez and Díaz.”
The victory gives the Padres a chance to finish this six-game road trip even with another win in Wednesday’s finale, and it kept them tied with the 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.
“This is a little different,” said Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who played behind Pivetta from 2020 to ‘22 with the Red Sox. “Mostly the consistency.”
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 NL.
“He’s throwing the ball exceptionally well,” Shildt said. “I love the way Nicky competes.”
Pivetta, who entered this season with a 4.76 ERA over his first eight MLB campaigns, walked a batter and threw just 10 strikes among his 20 pitches in the first inning and was visibly peeved at home plate umpire Junior Valentine on at least a couple ball calls.
“They were balls,” Pivetta said after the game. “Just competitive.”
Almost 70% of his pitches were strikes over his final six innings. After falling behind 2-1 to each of the first three batters of the game, he was behind 2-1 or 3-0 just three times against the final 22 batters he faced.
“I was just attacking the strike zone, getting ahead of guys as much I could,” Pivetta said. “I did have two walks today where I kind of fell behind but (was) able to execute my pitches (aside from) that.”
Pivetta allowed a pair of two-out singles — one in the second and one in the fourth — and issued a one-out walk in the fifth before retiring the final eight batters he faced. The Tigers did not have more than one runner in any inning and did not get anyone past first base after the first inning.
“Defense played really well behind me,” Pivetta said. “Díaz, as always, really good game calling, really good setups. Stayed in our rhythm, stayed in our atmosphere, what we wanted to do, and we accomplished a good goal today.”
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 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 top of the wall for a few seconds after the ball sailed past his reach.
“I was just looking for something in the strike zone, something I could handle,” Díaz said. “And fortunately, it came out over the wall.”
Flaherty would finish six innings for the first time this season, striking out nine and allowing five hits with no walks. The Padres missed 10 of the 14 times they swung at his knuckle curveball.
But that one blast 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.
“Nick, he set the complete tone,” Shildt said. “Pretty much in control. Misses were close. Throwing it where he wanted to. Breaking ball was very good, a lot of depth to it. He was outstanding,That also completed the Padres’ major league-leading seventh shutout.”
Adam worked the eighth, getting some help from a couple plays by second baseman Mason McCoy, and Suarez worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his major league-leading 10th save.
“It’s incredible,” said Díaz, who has caught five of those. “… It’s an incredible pitching staff that we have. Very talented.”
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