Red Sox End Difficult Road Trip With Rain-Soaked Loss to Pirates originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Boston Red Sox’s difficult road trip ended with a long wait and another frustrating loss. Boston fell behind early, watched its only real comeback attempt disappear into an extended weather delay and ultimately suffered an 8-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday at PNC Park.
The defeat dropped the Red Sox to 66-58 and handed Pittsburgh a series victory. Boston went 1-2 against a Pirates team that entered Sunday below .500, an especially disappointing result as the Red Sox continue fighting for postseason positioning. Patrick Sandoval gave Boston little chance to settle into the game. The left-hander surrendered seven earned runs over four innings, putting an already inconsistent offense in a massive early hole.
The Red Sox then waited through a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay before quietly completing a loss that felt decided long before the tarp covered the field.
Patrick Sandoval Buries Red Sox in Early Hole
Sandoval’s afternoon began poorly and never recovered. Bryan Reynolds gave Pittsburgh the lead with an RBI double in the first inning before Brandon Lowe followed with a run-scoring single. The Pirates then broke the game open during a five-run third inning.
Reynolds and Lowe each delivered another RBI single before former Red Sox prospect Nick Yorke drove home two runs with a base hit. Henry Davis added a sacrifice fly, extending Pittsburgh’s advantage to 7-0. Sandoval allowed nine hits and three walks while throwing 89 pitches over four innings. He struck out six and did not surrender a home run, but Pittsburgh repeatedly punished him with traffic on the bases.
The outing raised Sandoval’s ERA to 4.76 and continued an uneven season for the veteran left-hander. He generated 13 swinging strikes, but those misses were overshadowed by his inability to control innings once the Pirates began reaching base. Pittsburgh finished 7-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Boston went just 1-for-7.
That contrast told much of the story.
Rain Delay Halts Boston’s Only Rally
The Red Sox finally showed signs of life during the fifth inning. Jarren Duran and Aaron Schunk reached base before Connor Wong launched a 417-foot, three-run home run to left-center field. Wong’s fourth homer of the season cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 7-3 and briefly gave Boston hope of producing its 29th comeback victory.
The Red Sox could not build on it. After the sixth inning concluded, heavy rain forced the grounds crew to cover the field at 3:35 p.m. local time. Play did not resume until 6:05, creating a two-and-a-half-hour interruption.
Any momentum generated by Wong’s swing disappeared during the delay. Boston did not score again. Kirby Yates, Camilo Doval and Mason Montgomery combined to hold the Red Sox scoreless over the final three innings, while Yorke added another RBI single in the seventh to complete Pittsburgh’s scoring.
The Red Sox finished with only five hits and struck out 13 times. Wong accounted for two of those hits and all three of Boston’s runs. Ceddanne Rafaela and Nick Sogard combined to go 0-for-8 with five strikeouts at the top of the order. Rio Gomez provided one positive by limiting the damage after Sandoval’s exit. The right-hander allowed one run and two hits over four innings, preserving the bullpen during an unusually long afternoon.
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Red Sox Leave Pittsburgh With More Questions
Boston opened the series with a 4-0 loss Friday before responding with a 4-0 victory Saturday. Sunday offered an opportunity to salvage the road trip with consecutive wins and leave Pittsburgh with some momentum. Instead, the Red Sox endured one of Sandoval’s roughest starts of the season and another quiet performance from an offense that has struggled to produce consistently away from Fenway Park.
Boston remains third in the American League East, trailing the first-place Tampa Bay Rays by 8 1/2 games. The Red Sox also cannot afford to lose ground in a crowded postseason race. The schedule will not provide much time to recover. Boston opens a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday, with the Red Sox yet to announce their starting pitcher.
After a frustrating series loss, an exhausting rain delay and another difficult day at the plate, the Red Sox need a quick response.