The Pirates wrapped up their three-game set in Boston with a 5–2 loss on Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park, but still walked away with a 2–1 series victory on the road. After taking the opener behind an explosive offense and following it up with a gritty pitching duel in Game 2, Pittsburgh came up short in Game 3 despite early promise. The defeat dropped them to 61–77 on the season, but salvaging two wins in Beantown shows the continued improvement of the ballclub.
Pittsburgh starter Mitch Keller took the ball and battled through five innings, holding Boston to one earned run but saddled with four unearned runs in that decisive fifth inning. A Nick Gonzales miscue at second opened the floodgates, leading to a three-run burst capped by Jarren Duran’s inside-the-park homer. Keller finished with four unearned tallies on the ledger, three walks and three hits allowed, exiting having kept the deficit manageable—only for the offense to struggle behind him.
The Bucs did flash some life at the plate. In the fourth inning they loaded the bases off Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito and chased him with a wild pitch that brought home Pittsburgh’s first run. Alexander Canario followed with a towering solo shot over the Monster seats in the seventh, briefly pulling the Pirates within a run. From there, however, Pittsburgh stranded seven runners overall—including two in scoring position over the final three frames—and managed just six hits against Boston’s bullpen.
All eyes then turned to Boston’s fireballing closer Aroldis Chapman, who slammed the door in the ninth for his 27th save of the year. Chapman extended his career-best, club-record hitless streak to 15 straight outings—tying for the third-longest since 1901—and hasn’t yielded a hit to the last 44 batters he’s faced. With his ERA down to 1.02 and 76 strikeouts on the season, Chapman’s dominance has become a nightly certainty for a Red Sox club chasing an AL wild-card berth.
Despite coming up short in the finale, the Pirates will take solace in grabbing two wins in one of baseball’s toughest venues. They’ll now return home to PNC Park to play a three-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers starting on Tuesday.
(photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports)