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Pirates Take Series From Red Sox

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PITTSBURGH – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Nick Yorke had three RBIs while playing in his first game in exactly three months, while Bryan Reynolds and Brandon Lowe each drove in two to help the host Pittsburgh Pirates secure an 8-3 win over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday afternoon.

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Despite a 2 1/2-hour rain delay between the sixth and seventh innings, the Pirates secured the series victory and have won three of their past four as they attempt to stay alive in the National League postseason race. Boston has split its past four games after losing five in a row.

Yorke was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on Sunday and played for the first time since May 16 before he was optioned to the minors. Yorke’s two-run single off Red Sox starter Patrick Sandoval (1-2) in the third put the Pirates ahead 6-0 and highlighted a five-run inning for Pittsburgh.

The Pirates struck for two runs in the bottom of the first after Esmerlyn Valdez hit the first of his two doubles. Reynolds and Lowe followed with back-to-back RBI singles that put Pittsburgh ahead 2-0.

The same trio kickstarted the big third inning in the same fashion. Valdez followed Jared Triolo’s single with a double, and Reynolds and Lowe followed with run-scoring singles. After Yorke’s big hit, Henry Davis pushed Pittsburgh’s lead to 7-0 on a sacrifice fly.

Connor Wong, who finished with two hits, gave the Red Sox some hope when he belted a three-run home run off Pirates reliever Hunter Barco in the fifth inning. Barco was also recalled from Triple-A on Sunday after Pittsburgh optioned right-hander Wilber Dotel and infielder Jack Brannigan.

Kirby Yates (1-5) replaced Barco in the seventh when play resumed and pitched a scoreless inning.

Sandoval gave up seven runs on nine hits and three walks while striking out six over four innings. Raymond Burgos, who was recalled Sunday from Triple-A Worcester, pitched four innings — and remained in the game even after the rain delay — as he allowed one run on two hits and one walk, and had one strikeout.

Sonny, Chance of Ks

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Sonny Gray threw seven scoreless innings and Wilyer Abreu’s second-inning solo home run put the Boston Red Sox on course for a 4-0 shutout of the host Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday night.

Gray (15-3) set a career-high for wins and leads the American League in that category. Gray struck out seven and walked one on 86 pitches to lead the Red Sox to their second win in three games following a five-game losing streak.

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Abreu’s home run with one out in the second off Pirates starter Jared Jones (2-5) was one of three hits in the game. It tarnished a mostly-solid start for Jones, who struck out seven, walked two and gave up just the one run on four hits over five innings.

Abreu rapped his second of two doubles off Pittsburgh reliever Luke Weaver to lead off the ninth. Abreu was then thrown out at third on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Caleb Durbin. But Jarren Duran blooped a single to left field and Andruw Monasterio smacked a changeup from Weaver into the left center field gap to drive in two insurance runs.

Two batters later, Jahmai Jones drove in Monasterio with a single.

The Pirates’ dimming playoff hopes took another hit with the loss as they failed to put together three consecutive wins following a stretch of seven losses in eight games.

Pittsburgh’s best chance against Gray came in the fifth when it loaded the bases on singles by Jake Mangum, Rafael Flores Jr. and a walk to Spencer Horwitz. Gray recovered by striking out Brandon Lowe to end the inning.

Mangum and Esmerlyn Valdez each had two hits to lead the Pirates, who finished with six hits. All were singles, though, and Pittsburgh left five runners on base.

The verdict was the Red Sox’s 13th shutout this season and the 13th time the Pirates have been shut out.

The Red Sox had two strong chances to add to their early lead against Jones, but left runners on second and third in both the third and fourth innings. They failed on three chances with less than two outs.

Gray is tied with Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sanchez for the major league lead in wins.

–Field Level Media

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

Duran Rattles Pirates with Inside the Park Drive

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Jarren Duran’s three-run, inside-the-park home run punctuated a four-run fifth inning, helping the Boston Red Sox salvage their weekend series with a 5-2 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday afternoon.

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Duran reached base in all four of his plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with a double and two walks alongside the homer. Nathaniel Lowe also had two hits as Boston supported starter Lucas Giolito (10-2), who worked around five walks to finish six innings of three-hit, one-run ball with six strikeouts.

Aroldis Chapman struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth to post his 27th save. It was his 15th consecutive hitless appearance to post the save.

Alexander Canario was 2-for-4 with a homer for Pittsburgh. Mitch Keller (6-13) allowed four unearned runs, but struck out seven and gave up four hits and one walk over the first five innings.

After a two-on, no-out situation went to waste in the fourth, the Red Sox trailed 1-0 and had just two hits entering the game-changing inning.

Duran’s first career inside-the-parker came on a liner to right-center-field, splitting Pirates outfielders Oneil Cruz and Canario before rolling all the way to the wall and kicking around in the triangle area. The speedy left fielder circled the bases and scored standing up.

Romy Gonzalez had led off the inning by reaching on a throwing error and advanced to third on Carlos Narvaez’s ground-rule double down the right-field line two batters later. Roman Anthony’s grounder to shortstop produced the tying run. Alex Bregman was hit by a Keller pitch to set the table for Duran’s electrifying moment.

Ceddanne Rafaela beat out a one-out infield single to score Nathaniel Lowe, adding to the Red Sox lead in the sixth.

Canario greeted Red Sox reliever Justin Slaten with a solo homer to deep left-center in the seventh, but Garrett Whitlock struck him out with the bases loaded to end the following frame.

Giolito allowed just one hit as he cruised through the first three innings. After retiring the side 1-2-3 in the first on just six pitches, he benefited from center fielder Rafaela’s sliding catch to rob Nick Gonzales of a leadoff hit in the second.

The Boston starter, however, lost the strike zone and issued three consecutive two-out walks — all after Spencer Horwitz was caught stealing third base — in the fourth. A wild pitch allowed Gonzales to score the opening run.

–Field Level Media

Consistently … Inconsistent

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – A combined eight-run onslaught across the fifth and sixth innings propelled the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates to a 10-3 win over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.

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All nine Pirates hit safely, and three had two RBIs in support of Johan Oviedo (2-0), who allowed two runs on three hits and struck out six across five innings. Pittsburgh now has two straight wins in the series and eight in 10 games.

Jared Triolo and Spencer Horwitz (2-for-4) combined to score five runs, Bryan Reynolds and Nick Gonzalez each had two-RBI hits and Oniel Cruz hit his 19th home run.

Pittsburgh began breaking the game open after the team scored three runs in the fifth inning before recording an out.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a leadoff infield single, and after Boston starter Dustin May (7-11) hit a batter and walked another, Reynolds stung a two-RBI knock to right to give the Pirates a lead. Pham’s hit to left provided the inning’s third run.

The visitors sent 10 to the plate to score five runs in the sixth, including Cruz depositing the second pitch of the frame into deep center field for a solo homer.

A Joey Bart double and a walk two batters later ended May’s day. Horwitz then recorded an RBI single to center off of Brennan Bernardino to plate Bart, who kicked the ball away as he slid into home on a Ceddanne Rafaela relay to allow a second run to cross on the play.

After Bernardino walked two and struck out Andrew McCutchen, Gonzales snuck a two-out, two-run single up the middle to up Pittsburgh’s lead to 9-2.

Boston got a run back as Gonzalez hit the third of three straight singles against reliever Mike Burrows in the sixth.

A McCutcheon single and Gonzales double started Pittsburgh’s ninth, and a Jordan Hicks wild pitch brought in the 10th run.

Trevor Story and Romy Gonzalez each had two hits, and Carlos Narvaez homered for Boston.

The Pirates grabbed a quick 1-0 lead four batters into the game, loading the bases on an error, a Horwitz single and a walk against May, which led to Pham’s RBI groundout to third base.

Pirates are Pham-ily, Down Sox

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – Fresh off their Cy Young Award candidate Paul Skenes victory in the series opener, the Pittsburgh Pirates will look to make it two wins in a row in Boston and eight victories in their last 10 games when they face the playoff-chasing Red Sox again this afternoon.

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The Pirates are seven games deep in the basement of the National League Central, but their bats woke up late in a 4-2 win on Friday. Seven of their 10 hits came after Boston MLB-debuting star Payton Tolle exited through 5 1/3 innings.

Former Red Sox player Tommy Pham hit a game-tying, two-run double in the sixth inning before Andrew McCutchen highlighted his 3-for-3 performance with a deciding RBI double in the next at-bat.

Pham has been a major key of late for Pittsburgh, hitting .300 with a 1.017 OPS and 10 RBIs in his last 12 games. He hit just .170 over the first 28 games.

“People wanted him out, and look what he’s been able to do the second half of the season,” McCutchen said of Pham. “That’s why baseball’s a crazy game. For him to be able to turn his season around like he’s done, it just goes to show you just no excuses, you’ve gotta work.”

Meanwhile, it was McCutchen’s second game with multiple extra-base hits in the last seven. His effort Friday supported Skenes, who overcame a career high-tying seven hits in six innings but gave up only two runs (one earned) and struck out six.

Now, in the second game of a three-game series, Pittsburgh right-hander Johan Oviedo (1-0, 3.60 ERA) is set to make his fourth start since returning from a 2024 season-long absence due to Tommy John surgery.

After lasting just one inning in his Aug. 4 season debut, Oviedo has back-to-back solid starts. He struck out five across four innings of one-run ball Monday against the St. Louis Cardinals, but the Pirates lost 7-6.

“Looked really sharp, you know, and stuff was good,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said of that outing. “Fastball was electric, and kept them off balance with the offspeed, and went to the curveball really effectively there in the middle of the outing.”

Oviedo, 27, pitched 4 2/3 innings in his only career start against the Red Sox on April 3, 2023, allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits — including three homers.

The Red Sox entered Friday off a four-game sweep in Baltimore but have still won seven of their last nine games. However, they have lost four straight contests at home.

Boston was out-hit 10-9 on Friday, but Roman Anthony hit a solo home run and Romy Gonzalez went 3-for-4.

“I think we put good at-bats,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We had three innings to try to get to the bullpen. It just didn’t work out.”

Right-hander Dustin May (7-10, 4.79 ERA) enters his first career start against Pittsburgh looking to stop back-to-back losses and three in four outings with Boston.

In his first taste of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry last Sunday in the Bronx, May allowed three home runs among five hits and five runs in 4 1/3 innings.

May’s start not only comes a day after Tolle’s impressive debut, but also after the Red Sox parted ways with pitcher Walker Buehler before the game.

A week ago, Buehler was demoted from his starting spot and made one relief appearance before his release. Tolle and May are holding down the end of the rotation behind the consistent trio of Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito.

“We’re playing important games and want to give ourselves every opportunity to win as many of those as possible, and we think that Payton and Dustin give us the best chance to do that right now,” said Craig Breslow, Boston’s chief baseball officer.

–Field Level Media

Kutter Crawford Gets It Done for Sox

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PITTSBURGH – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston DH Masataka Yoshida collected three hits, including a two-run home run, to propel the visiting Red Sox to a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.

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Yoshida hit his second home run of the season to give Boston a 4-1 lead in the sixth inning. The home run came against Pittsburgh starting pitcher Mitch Keller and was Boston’s 29th homer in 22 games. Pablo Reyes, who drew a one-out walk, also scored on the play.

Yoshida also singled during Boston’s two-run first inning, and was credited with a double in the eighth on a ball that Pittsburgh left fielder appeared to lose in the sun.

Sox SP Kutter Crawford (1-0) limited the Pirates to one run on seven hits in six innings to collect the win. He struck out six and walked three. Crawford lowered his ERA to 0.66.

Kenley Jansen struck out the side in the ninth to earn his fifth save. Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton was ejected after Mchael A. Taylor struck out on a pitch clock violation with one out in the ninth.

Boston’s victory extended Pittsburgh’s losing streak to five games. The Red Sox improved their road record to 9-3.

Keller (2-2) pitched six innings. He gave up four runs on five hits, walked four and struck out four.

Connor Joe had a pinch-hit home run for the Pirates, who received three hits from Bryan Reynolds. Joe’s home run was his second of the season.

The Red Sox took an early 1-0 lead when Jarren Duran opened the game with a triple and scored on Wilyer Abreu’s infield single. Boston loaded the bases later in the inning and led 2-0 after Rob Refsnyder scored on Bobby Dalbec’s fielder’s choice.

Pittsburgh made it a 2-1 game in the bottom of the fourth. Ke’Bryan Hayes led off the inning with a double and scored on Jared Triolo’s two-out single.

The Pirates had the bases loaded with one out in the fifth, but failed to score. Then Yoshida’s homer with one out gave Boston a three-run lead in the next inning.

Joe’s home run cut Boston’s lead to 4-2 in the eighth.

–Field Level Media

Longballs Back Sox, Bello vs Pirates

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PITTSBURGH – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Wilyer Abreu went 3-for-5 and was one of three players to hit their first home runs of the season for the Red Sox in an 8-1 win over the host Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.

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Boston’s offense pounded out 12 hits en route to its second win in a three-game span.

Rob Refsnyder and Ceddanne Rafaela each drove in a pair with the help of their first homers of 2024, while Triston Casas also left the yard for the Red Sox. Enmanuel Valdez added a two-run double.

Refsnyder and Connor Wong were each 2-for-5.

Brayan Bello (3-1) earned his second consecutive win in dominant fashion, allowing only one hit — Jack Suwinski’s leadoff double to left in the second — and two walks while striking out seven over six innings.

Chase Anderson and Cam Booser worked in relief of Bello. Booser, who allowed Pittsburgh’s only run, was making his MLB debut.

The Red Sox jumped out to a quick lead against Pittsburgh starter Quinn Priester (0-1), socking a pair of first-inning solo homers before scoring another run in the second. The opening run came just one out into the game as Abreu’s 421-foot blast nearly left the ballpark in right.

Casas doubled the Boston lead two batters later with two outs, clearing the fences in left-center field.

After Bello worked around two baserunners in Pittsburgh’s half of the first, Ceddanne Rafaela’s RBI fielder’s choice upped Boston’s lead to 3-0. Bobby Dalbec crossed the plate following a leadoff double, his first hit of the season.

Red Sox Drop Three to Pirates

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BOSTON – Three up, three down.

Pittsburgh’s starting pitcher Mitch Keller struck out seven, Carlos Santana homered and Bryan Reynolds knocked in his seventh run of the season as the Pirates completed a three-game sweep of the Red Sox with a 4-1 win Wednesday.

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Ke’Bryan Hayes drove in a run with a perfectly-placed bunt in the sixth and Santana added an RBI double during a two-run seventh that put the Pirates up 4-0.

It was the Pirates’ first road sweep of an American League opponent since Pittsburgh took three at Detroit in 2018.

“That’s a good Red Sox team and they score a bunch of runs. I was really proud of our pitchers and how they did a good job of neutralizing them,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said.

Pittsburgh improved to 4-2 on a cold, gray and blustery afternoon at Fenway Park, where the game-time temperature was 41 degrees. The Red Sox fell to 2-4.

Keller (1-0) braved short sleeves despite the conditions and held Boston to one run on four hits, striking out seven and walking two in seven innings. He carried a shutout into the seventh, when Triston Triston Casas doubled with two out and scored on a single by Christian Arroyo.

“We had used a lot of our leverage guys and were a little short,” Shelton said of Keller. “For him to give us seven strong and finish was really important. Outstanding outing by him.”

Boston’s Corey Kluber (0-1) held the Pirates to one run on three hits over five innings. The only run charged to Kluber was in the fourth, when Santana pounced on an inside cutter and drove it out to right for his first homer of the season, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

“It’s good. Last night and today, I’m feeling much better,” said Santana, who was hitless in his previous 13 at-bats before the homer. “When you focus, something happens positive.”

John Schreiber started the sixth for Boston and faced Reynolds, who had homered in three straight games. He lined Schreiber’s first pitch for a double to left. Reynolds took third on an infield single by Andrew McCutchen and scored easily when Hayes dropped a bunt just a few feet inside the first-base line and ran it out for an infield hit.

Duane Underwood threw just five pitches in the ninth for his first save.

Keller and the Pirates had to weather a brief scare when a drive to right by pinch-hitter Reese McGuire with two on was initially called a home run, which would have tied it. The umpires briefly met and concluded it was foul, which was confirmed on a video review.

“That was kind of a crazy turn of events there,” Keller said. “I was watching the ball. I was kind of amazed that they called it fair.”