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Archives for August 14, 2026

Flores, Jr.; Lowe Power Pirates

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PITTSBURGH – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Rafael Flores Jr. and Brandon Lowe each homered to propel the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-4 victory over the visiting Boston Red Sox on Friday night.

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Flores, who had two three-run home runs during Thursday’s 13-1 triumph over Miami, hit a solo home run in the second, and Lowe smashed a Jovani Moran changeup for a three-run home run in the fifth.

Flores collected three hits in the victory. Pittsburgh also received two hits and three runs from Bryan Reynolds.

Bubba Chandler (6-8) limited Boston to two runs on four hits in five innings to earn the win. He walked two and struck out five.

Nick Sogard had two hits and two RBIs for Boston, which lost for the sixth time in its last seven games.

After Flores opened the scoring with his fourth home run of the season, Pittsburgh took a four-run lead by scoring three times in the fourth. It was 3-0 after an Esmerlyn Valdez double drove in Reynolds and Ronny Simon, and Flores followed with an RBI single to stretch the lead to 4-0.

Boston starting pitcher Jake Bennett (7-6) was pulled after four innings. He allowed four runs on five hits, walked one and struck out six.

Boston trimmed its deficit to 4-2 in the fifth. Andruw Monasterio hit an RBI single to make get the Red Sox on the board, and Nick Sogard drove in Jarren Duran with a sacrifice fly to center field for Boston’s second run.

Lowe’s home run extended Pittsburgh’s lead to 7-2.

Sogard drove in Duran a second time with an RBI single that trimmed Pittsburgh’s lead to 7-3 in the seventh, but the Pirates got the run back in the bottom of the inning when third baseman Caleb Durbin made a wild throw to first that allowed Reynolds to score.

Masataka Yoshida’s single in the ninth with two outs drove in Eli White to make it 8-4. At that point, the Pirates replaced Kirby Yates with Mason Montgomery, who struck out Adley Rutschman with two aboard to secure the save.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Visit Pittsburgh for Three

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PITTSBURGH – (Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox will visit the Pittsburgh Pirates for the opener of a three-game series on Friday night, and both teams have rested bullpens and some much-needed momentum.

Boston ended a five-game losing streak with a 7-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday in the finale of a four-game set. The win allowed the Red Sox to avoid being swept in a series for the first time since mid-June (against Toronto).

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Boston was nursing a 1-0 lead when Caleb Durbin hit a grand slam in the eighth inning. Rookie Payton Tolle gave up two hits over eight innings before Greg Weissert pitched the ninth, hours after being recalled from Triple-A Worcester.

“We needed a deep start, (and Tolle) got a great deep start,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “We needed a win, and (Tolle) gave us a win. He was awesome. … He’s been really good and we’re gonna need him to keep doing that down the stretch, but it was a really good outing.”

Tolle retired the last 17 batters he faced in the longest outing of his MLB career.

“I just try to do what I can on any given day and was fortunate enough to have a deep one today,” Tolle said.

As good as Tolle was, Pittsburgh’s Braxton Ashcraft was even better in his team’s 13-1 triumph over Miami on Thursday. Ashcroft needed only 85 pitches to throw a complete game, giving up three hits and striking out 10 batters to help the Pirates end a three-game losing streak.

“He’s an All-Star, man,” Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly said. “He earned that in the first half. Certainly did today coming off some tough losses. To (pitch) the way he did today was outstanding.”

“I think you saw the product of hard work, putting your head down and not paying attention to what’s going on externally. … I think it’s the start of something really cool down the stretch.”

Boston left-hander Jake Bennett (7-5, 3.17 ERA) will take the mound on Friday for his first career start against the Pirates. He allowed four runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings in his last outing, a 7-3 loss to the Athletics on Saturday.

Pittsburgh is expected to start right-hander Bubba Chandler (5-8, 4.26 ERA) in his first career appearance against Boston. He won his second straight start on Saturday, scattering three hits over six scoreless innings in a 9-0 victory over the New York Mets.

–Field Level Media