Pirates Come to Life, Rally Past Red Sox; Skenes Reaches .500
Making his MLB debut, Payton Stumbo shut the Pittsburgh Pirates down through five innings, but the boys in black and gold rallied to defeat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 at Fenway Park on Friday night.
How We Got There
With two on and two outs in the fourth, Ceddanne Rafaela hit a dribbler that got past Paul Skenes (9-9). Third baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa fielder the ball and tried to make a play but delivered an errant throw to first base, allowing Masataka Yoshida to score from second.
The Red Sox (75-61) added another in the fifth inning on Roman Anthony’s solo home run to right field.
Back-to-back singles with one out in the sixth finally knocked Tolle out of the game, which is when the Pirates (60-76) started their comeback. Facing reliever Greg Weissert, Tommy Pham doubled home a pair to tie the game. Andrew McCutchen followed with an RBI double, his second two-bagger of the game.
With one out and two on in the eighth, Henry Davis bunted a ball back to Red Sox reliever Jordan Hicks. Pinch-runner Ronny Simon broke from third and Hicks threw home. After initially being ruled out, the Pirates challenged and the call was overturned. Simon put the Pirates ahead 4-2 but left clutching his left arm.
Dauri Moreta, Isaac Mattson and Dennis Santana covered the final three innings. Santana notched his 11th save of the season.
Key Moment
Nick Gonzales and Bryan Reynolds delivered two-straight singles in the sixth, forcing the Red Sox to go to the bullpen.
Player of the Game
Andrew McCutchen put the Pirates ahead and reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances.
Stat to Know
Paul Skenes is now 17-0 in his career when the Pirates score at least three runs.
Notable Performances
- Paul Skenes: 6.0 innings, seven hits, two runs (one earned), one walk, six strikeouts, 95 pitches/60 strikes.
- Andrew McCutchen: 3 for 3, two doubles, one RBI, one walk
- Tommy Pham: 1 for 3, one double, two RBI, one walk, one run
- Nick Gonzales: 2 for 5, one run
Noteworthy
- The Pirates placed OF Jack Suwinski on the 10-day IL with a right groin strain and placed RHP Kyle Nicolas on the Major League Bereavement/Family Medical Emergency List.
- OF Ronny Simon and LHP Evan Sisk were recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Up Next
RHP Johan Oviedo (1-0, 3.60 ERA) will start for the Pirates on Saturday opposite RHP Dustin May (7-10, 4.79 ERA). First pitch: 4:10 p.m. ET.
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