Pirates finish Red Sox behind Keller and Santana – Boston News, Weather, Sports

BOSTON (AP) — Mitch Keller hit seven, Carlos Santana hit a homer and Bryan Reynolds batted in his seventh heat of the season as the Pittsburgh Pirates ended a three-game win over the Red Sox with a 4-1 win on Wednesday .

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

It was the Pirates’ first road sweep against an American League opponent since Pittsburgh won three in Detroit in 2018.

“This is a good Red Sox team and they’re getting a lot of runs. I was really proud of our pitchers and how well they neutralized them,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton.

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

Keller (1-0) braved the short sleeves despite the conditions, holding Boston on a four-hit run, batting seven and walking two in seven innings. He brought a shutout in the seventh when Triston doubled Triston Casas with two outs and scored with a single from Christian Arroyo.

“We had used a lot of our leverage and were a little close,” Shelton said of Keller. “It was really important for him to make the seven of us strong and to finish. Outstanding performance from him.”

Boston’s Corey Kluber (0-1) held the Pirates on a three-hit run for five innings. The only run Kluber was billed for was the fourth when Santana lunged for an inside cutter and drove him to the right for his first homer of the season, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

“That’s good. I feel a lot better last night and tonight,” said Santana, who was unbeaten in his last 13 at-bats before the homer. “When you focus, something positive happens.”

John Schreiber started the sixth for Boston, facing Reynolds, who had homed in three straight games. He lined Schreiber’s first throw to the left for a double. Reynolds finished third on an infield single by Andrew McCutchen, scoring easily when Hayes dropped a bunt just yards past the first baseline and ran it out for an infield hit.

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

FURTHER REVIEW

Keller and the Pirates suffered a brief shock when a two-on right drive by pinch-hitter Reese McGuire was initially called a home run, which would have leveled it. The referees met briefly and concluded it was a foul, which was confirmed in a video review.

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

SOX SPUTTER

The Red Sox continued to struggle offensively, being beaten 9-5 at home and going long stretches in the series without scoring. After leading 1-0 in the first inning of Tuesday night’s 4-1 loss, Boston didn’t score again until the seventh inning on Wednesday.

“We didn’t play good baseball,” manager Alex Cora said. “We’re showing a few flashes of good stuff but overall, like today, it wasn’t good. If you don’t score runs like you did in the last two days, you have to be on point. Even if you’re scoring runs, you need to play better defense. I think we just made some bad decisions.”

REYNOLDS’ ROLE

Though his streak of consecutive games ended with a homer at three, Reynolds continued his hot start in the first week of the season and ended an outstanding streak. Reynolds was 7-12 in three games and has 24 total bases in six games. The only Pittsburgh player with more in the first six games was Barry Bonds in 1988.

TRAINING ROOM

Pirates: SS Oneil Cruz needed a few minutes with a coach after tangling with Rafael Devers when a throwing error slipped him to third in the seventh. Cruz stayed in the game until the end of the top half of the inning, but was briefly replaced by Radolfo Castro when Boston struck.

Red Sox: RHP Brayan Bello (right elbow inflammation) threw 72 pitches at a rehab start in Fort Meyers, Fla. on Wednesday and reported no problems, the Red Sox said.

UP NEXT Pirates: After a day off on Thursday, Pittsburgh plays its home game against the Chicago White Sox on Friday. Veteran LHP Rich Hill (0-1, 5.40 ERA) meets Chicago RHP Lucas Giolito (0-0, 3.60).

Red Sox: LHP Chris Sale (0-0, 21.00 ERA) gets his second start of the season as Boston open a three-game series against Tigers RHP Spencer Turnbull (0-1, 27.00) in Detroit on Thursday afternoon. Sale lasted three innings in his season debut on Saturday and allowed seven runs and seven hits against Baltimore.

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