Final: Red Sox 4, Pirates 2 - Yoshida hits 2 run shot to extend Boston's lead

Trevor's Game Notes

Staying strong: Despite being outhit by the Pirates, Boston managed to pick up the victory. Kutter Crawford stayed strong keeping runners at bay, pitching into the 6th inning and picking up his first victory of the year. The best moment of the day for Crawford was him striking out his final batter. It appeared as if Cora was going out for a mound visit right before to take Crawford out of the game, but he showed trust in his starter motivating him to get the final out. 

Getting on base: Wilder Abreu gets on base 4 times in this game, walking three times and recording a single. 

Jansen shuts the door. After blowing the save against Cleveland, Jansen bounces back striking out the side to record the save. His 2nd strike out came from the help of the umpire, who struck out Taylor for stepping out of the box. Jansen is now in sole possession of 5th place on the all-time saves leaderboard. 

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WHO: Red Sox (11-10) at Pittsburgh Pirates (11-9)
WHEN: 4:05 p.m.
WHERE: PNC Park, Pittsburgh
SERIES TO DATE: 1-0 (0-0/1-0)
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Kutter Crawford (0-0, 0.42) vs. RHP Mitch Keller (2-1, 4.50)
TV/RADIO: NESN WEEI-FM 93.7

LIVE BOX

LINEUPS

RED SOX

Jarren Duran (L) CF
Wilyer Abreu (L) LF
Rob Refsnyder (R) RF
Triston Casas (L) 1B
Masataka Yoshida (L) DH
Bobby Dalbec (R) 3B
Enmanuel Valdez (L) 2B
Reese McGuire (L) C
Ceddanne Rafaela (R) SS

SP Kutter Crawford

Pirates

Edward Olivares (R) DH
Bryan Reynolds (S) RF
Ke'Bryan Hayes (R) 3B
Jack Suwinski (L) LF
Joey Bart (R) C
Rowdy Tellez (L) 1B
Jared Triolo (R) 2B
Oneil Cruz (L) SS
Michael A. Taylor (R)

SP Mitch Keller

WHAT'S UP

The Red Sox have won 2 of their last 3 games.They’re 4-3 in their last 7. With a win today or tomorrow, the Sox would improve to 4-2-1 in series play, including 3-0-1 on the road. The last time the Red Sox won or split each of their first 4 road series in a season was 2016 (3-0-1).

The Red Sox rank 2nd in MLB with 28 HR (1st: BAL-30), their most through 21 games since 2002 (30) and tied for 5th-most in franchise history.The Sox’ 17 HR on the road are tied with SF for most in MLB...On the road, Boston leads the AL and ranks 4th in MLB in SLG (.434) and OPS (.764).

 The Red Sox defeated the Pirates in last night’s series opener, 8-1. Boston tied a season high with 12 H, including 4 HR. Brayan Bello started and allowed just 1 H over 6.0 scoreless innings, with 2 BB and 7 SO. Chase Anderson followed with 2.0 scoreless frames (2 H, 2 SO). Cam Booser (1.0 IP, H, R, SO) made his MLB debut in the 9th inning.

Today’s starter Kutter Crawford is the only pitcher in Red Sox history (excluding openers) to allow 1 or 0 runs and 3 or fewer hits in each of their first 4 starts of a season. No pitcher since at least 1901 as recorded 4.0+ IP with 3 H or fewer and 1 or 0 R in their first 5 starts of a season. In his last 5 starts, beginning 9/30/23, Crawford allowed just 2 R (1 ER) in 27.1 IP...He’s recorded 31 SO in that span while holding opponents to a .108 AVG (10-for-93).

Red Sox catchers (Reese McGuire, Connor Wong) are tied for the MLB lead in HR (5)...They rank 2nd in the AL and T-3rd in MLB in RBI (16). Sox catchers lead the AL in SLG (.518) and rank 2nd in AVG (.313) and OPS (.859).