Mitch Keller only allowed one run over 7.0 innings on the mound on Wednesday afternoon, as the Pittsburgh Pirates finished off a three game sweep of the Boston Red Sox 4-1 at Fenway Park.
Carlos Santana broke a scoreless tie with a leadoff line drive solo homerun to right off Boston starter Corey Kluber. Keller (1-0) was in control, allowing just four hits and retiring the Red Sox in order in three straight innings in the third, fourth, and fifth. He only allowed one runner to get into scoring position until the seventh when Christian Arroyo knocked in the only run on a single after Triston Casas had doubled with two outs. Pittsburgh (4-2) had extended their lead to 4-0 on a Ke’Bryan Hayes squeeze bunt in the sixth, and a sacrifice fly by Bryan Reynolds along with an RBI double by Santana in the seventh inning. Kluber was lifted after just 67 pitches in 5.0 innings.
Kluber (0-2) was charged with one run on three hits with one walk and two strikeouts in taking the loss. Arroyo had two hits with the lone RBI. Keller struckout seven and walked two and threw 107 pitches (78 for strikes) in the win for Pittsburgh. Andrew McCutchen and Santana had two hits each, with Santana driving in a pair of runs. Boston now heads out on their first road trip of the season, a seven game trip that begins in Detroit at Comerica Park against the Tigers on Thursday afternoon at 1:10. Chris Sale looks to bounce back after a tough first start as he takes the hill for the Sox, against Spencer Turnbull for the Tigers.
Recap by Chris Lessner