Center fielder Bryan Reynolds hit two home runs to help the Pittsburgh Pirates end a two-game losing streak with a 7-6 victory over the host Boston Red Sox on Monday night.
Reynolds hit solo homers in the second and fourth innings. He collected three hits in the win.
Reynolds has three home runs in Pittsburgh's first four games. He homered 27 times in 145 games last season.
Rafael Devers, Masataka Yoshida and Triston Casas homered for the Red Sox.
The Pirates, coming off back-to-back losses against Cincinnati, also received a solo home run from catcher Jason Delay.
Neither starting pitcher had much success. Boston's Kutter Crawford (0-1) allowed eight hits and seven runs in four innings. He struck out six, walked two and allowed three home runs. Pittsburgh's Johan Oviedo was pulled with two outs in the fifth after he gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits, walked four and struck out four.
Duane Underwood Jr. (1-0) earned the win for tossing 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
The Pirates scored three runs in the first inning, when they sent eight hitters to the plate. Reynolds scored on a Ke'Bryan Hayes single before a Canaan Smith-Njigba double to left scored Ji Man Choi and Hayes.
Boston hit three home runs to take a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the first. After Devers hit a solo shot, Yoshida and Casas followed with two-run homers.
Reynolds hit his first home run in the top of the second to trim Boston's lead to 5-4, and a single by Jack Suwinski scored Hayes to tie the game in the top of the third. Delay's home run put the Pirates up 6-5 in the fourth, and Reynolds increased the lead to 7-5 when he hit his second home run later that inning.
Boston was within a run after Adam Duvall singled home Alex Verdugo to make it 7-6 in the sixth, but the Red Sox stranded two runners in scoring position in the eighth and left a runner on first in the ninth.
Verdugo led Boston with three hits.
--Field Level Media
Pittsburgh | Boston | |
Johan Oviedo | Player | Kutter Crawford |
No Decision | W/L | Loss |
4.2 | IP | 4.0 |
4 | Strikeouts | 6 |
6 | Hits | 8 |
7.71 | ERA | 15.75 |
Pittsburgh | Boston | |
Bryan Reynolds | Player | Alex Verdugo |
3 | Hits | 3 |
2 | RBI | 0 |
2 | HR | 0 |
9 | TB | 3 |
.600 | Avg | .600 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Pittsburgh | 9 | 3 | 20 | .257 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
Boston | 10 | 3 | 20 | .263 | 22 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 1 |