Pirates Offense Helps Paul Skenes Beat Red Sox

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed starting pitcher had a solid start and got the offensive help he needed in the 4-2 win over the Boston Red Sox in the series opener at Fenway Park.

The Pirates make it eight wins in their last 11 games, splitting a four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, Aug. 25-28, sweeping the Colorado Rockies, Aug. 22-24, and taking two out of three games vs. the Toronto Blue Jays, Aug. 18-20, both at PNC Park.

This matchup pitted Skenes against Red Sox left-handed picher Payton Tolle, who made his MLB debut.

The Pirates had an early opportunity, as left fielder Tommy Pham walked and designated hitter Andrew McCutchen hit a ground-rule double on a ball that hit just fair and then into the stands, putting two runners in scoring position with no outs in the top of the second inning.

They failed to take advantage of the scoring opportunity, as Tolle struck out center fielder Alexander Canario and catcher Henry Davis, back-to-back, then got first baseman Liover Peguero to line out.

Skenes had a quick first inning, but gave up back-to-back singles to designated hitter Masataka Yoshida and first baseman Romy Gonzalez, with the Red Sox putting two runners on with one out.

He then got a groundout from second baseman Nick Sogard, with Gonzalez out at second base, but then Sogard stole second base, putting two Red Sox baserunners in scoring position. Skenes would get out of the inning unscathed, as he struck out center fielder Cedanne Rafaela.

Skenes again had a difficult start to the third inning, as catcher Connor Wong reached first base after an error from Canario and he gave up a single to right fielder Roman Anthony, putting two Red Sox baserunners on with no outs.

He got out of this inning without giving up a run as well, forcing third baseman Alex Bregman into a double play and then got left fielder Jarren Durran to fly out.

Skenes got the first out of the fourth inning, but then walked Yoshida and Gonzalez singled, putting two Red Sox base runners on again.

He got a fly out from Sogard, but then had a ground ball from Rafaela go past him to Pirates third baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who threw it too wide for Peguero, as hit off his glove and went behind him.

This scored Yoshida, giving the Red Sox a 1-0 lead, and was an unearned run for Skenes, who got Wong to ground out and end the inning before further runs came across.

Skenes then gave up a leadoff home run to Anthony, who hit a 98.8 mph four-seam fastball down in the strike zone and sent it 408 feet into the right field seats, making it a 2-0 lead for Boston.

The Pirates offense struggled against Tolle, who had eight strikeouts through the first four innings.

They finally got to him in the top of the sixth inning, as second baseman Nick Gonzales and right fielder Bryan Reynolds hit back-to-back singles with one out.

Boston manager Alex Cora then took out Tolle and brought in right-handed pitcher Greg Weissert.

Pham came through for the Pirates with a double into deep center field, scoring both Gonzales and Reynolds to tie it up at 2-2.

McCutchen also had his second double of the game, which scored Pham and put the Pirates up 3-2.