After a wild first inning, the Pirates scraped together just enough offense and pitching to beat Boston in Fenway, 7-6.
Things looked great at the start, and then not so much. After sleeping through the Reds series, the Pirates’ offense scored as many runs in the first inning as it did in the last 18 in Cincinnati. Ke’Bryan Hayes got his first RBI of the year and Canaan Smith-Njigba came through with a two-out, two-run double high off the monster.
But the 3-0 lead didn’t last long. Johan Oviedo couldn’t throw strikes and when he did, he got bombed. After three first-inning gopher balls, Boston led, 5-3.
Oviedo managed to battle through after that, mainly because he started throwing some strikes. He lasted four and two-thirds and there was no more damage. He threw 94 pitches total, about half . . . well, not quite . . . in the first inning.
Oviedo left with two on and the bullpen was shaky, but somehow survived. Dauri Moreta, Rob Zastryzny (I looked it up) and Duane Underwood, Jr., combined to get the next four outs while allowing four runners, one of which scored. That one was charged to Zastryzny but came home with Underwood on the mound.
Underwood actually got the side in order in the seventh and Colin Holderman survived the eighth despite a hit and a walk.
Meanwhile, the Pirates scored more runs! Four, altogether, in the second through the fourth. Half of that came on two swings from Bryan Reynolds, his second and third dingers of the year. And another run came on a longball by Jason Delay, the first hit of the year by a Pirate catcher. Jack Suwinski singled in the remaining run. (Carlos Santana and Ji-Man Choi remain RBI-less.)
All of this got a 7-6 game to David Bednar in the ninth. He gave up a hit but fanned two, picking up save number two.
On the day, Reynolds had three hits and three runs scored. The Pirates had nine hits overall. Underwood got the win.
