Pittsburgh turned a tight game into a laugher in the middle innings. The Pirates scored three runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth, and that burst was enough to hold off Boston in an 8-4 win at PNC Park.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| PIT | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 8 | 9 | 1 |
Rafael Flores was at the center of it. He went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs, opening the scoring with a solo shot to right field in the second inning and later adding an RBI single in the fourth. Brandon Lowe supplied the biggest blow of the night, a three-run homer to right in the fifth that pushed the score to 2-7. Bryan Reynolds scored three runs on a 2-for-4 night, and Esmerlyn Valdez chipped in a double and two RBIs.
Flores Jr.'s homer in the second inning gave Pittsburgh a lead it never gave up, turning a scoreless tie into a 0-1 game. The Pirates built on it in the fourth when Valdez doubled to left to score Reynolds and Simon, and Flores Jr. followed with an RBI single to make it 0-4. In the fifth, after Boston had cut into the deficit, Lowe's three-run homer to right scored Ja. Gonzalez and Reynolds and made it 2-7. Pittsburgh added a run in the seventh when Reynolds scored on a throwing error by third baseman Durbin.
Boston starter Jake Bennett lasted 4.0 innings, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits with 6 strikeouts and 1 walk, and was tagged with the loss. The Red Sox chipped away throughout, getting an RBI single from Andruw Monasterio and a sacrifice fly from Nick Sogard in the fifth, another RBI single from Sogard in the seventh, and a run-scoring single from Masataka Yoshida in the ninth. Jarren Duran scored twice and Eli White also crossed the plate, but Boston's bullpen, working 4.0 innings with 4 runs allowed, couldn't slow Pittsburgh's offense.
Bubba Chandler picked up the win for Pittsburgh, working 5.0 innings and allowing 2 runs on 4 hits with 5 strikeouts, improving to 6-8 on the season with a 4.23 ERA. Mason Montgomery worked the final third of an inning to secure his 4th save. The Pirates, who used five relievers to cover four innings, improved to 60-64 and extended their winning streak to two games. Boston fell to 65-57.