Pirates Swept by Red Sox Following 6-1 Loss on Sunday

PITTSBURGH — It looked like it might be a different story for the Pittsburgh Pirates after the first inning, but it turned out to be more of the same in their 6-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox at PNC Park on Sunday afternoon.

Connor Joe doubled to the deepest part of the park to begin the bottom of the first. Two batters later, Ke’Bryan Hayes drove him in with a sacrifice fly to right field to give the Pirates (11-11) an early 1-0 lead. 

Hayes and Suwinski both finished the game with two hits. Both players were also thrown out once trying to advance an extra 90 feet. 

Martín Pérez struggled with some wildness and inefficiency and was pulled in the fifth inning without record an out after 91 pitches. Pérez (1-1) was charged with four runs on six hits, four walks and a hit batter in four-plus innings pitched. He struck out seven batters, which tied a career-high.

Boston (13-10) struck for two runs in the third inning, one on a Rob Refsnyder double and one on a Wilyer Abreu base hit. 

After the first two batters reached against Pérez in the fifth, manager Derek Shelton brought in Ryder Ryan. Ryan allowed a two-run single to pinch-hitter Reese McGuire which gave the Red Sox a 4-1 lead. 

Abreu drove in another run for the Red Sox in the sixth inning against Ryder with an RBI-base hit. 

The Red Sox extended their lead to 6-1 in the eighth inning. Aroldis Chapman issued a leadoff walk to Jarren Duran. Chapman had him picked off but Rowdy Tellez’s throw to second couldn’t be handled by Triolo at second. Durran advanced to third on a balk in violation of the disengagement rule and scored after Oneil Cruz dropped a pop up in shallow center. 

The loss marks the sixth in a row for the Pirates, who have been swept in back-to-back series. 

Up Next

The Pirates will face their first National League Central opponent when they host the Milwaukee  Brewers on Monday night. The four-game series gets underway with Jared Jones (1-2, 3.13 ERA) pitching against Joe Ross (1-1, 4.91 ERA). First pitch: 6:40 ET.