Pirates 4, Red Sox 2

 

The second-place Red Sox, fifteen games above .500,  fell to the fifth-place Pittsburgh Pirates. seventeen games under .500. 

For whom the blame Tolles . . . New guy Payton Tolle pitched pretty well. He want 5⅓ innings in his major-league debut giving up only two runs on three hits and striking out eight, but the bullpen let him down. Tolle got pulled in the sixth with no outs, two on, and a 2-0 lead, but reliever Greg Weissert gave up a pair of doubles making it 3-2 Pittsburgh. Jordan Hicks gave up another run in the eighth. Boston lost, but you can't blame Tolle.

If we're going to point fingers and assign blame, Bregman hasn't had a base hit since Tuesday in Baltimore, going 0-for-4 in the last two games, and he and Story both went 0-for-4 last night. So did catcher Conner Wong, but you expect that of Wong (he's ninth in the lineup for a reason). 

The damage is done. The Yankees easily won  their game in Chicago, 10-2, and move into second. The Sox trail New York by a half game Fortunately, Toronto lost last night, so Boston's still only 3½ back from first.

Game two of the series is this afternoon at 4:30 (I'll be watching the Georgia Bulldogs football game at that time). Dustin May (7-10, 4.79) will face someone named Johan Oviedo (1-0, 3.60) making his third start of the season. Let's get the momentum back, Dustin!