Pirates avoid sweep, beat Red Sox 8-2

JT Brubaker pitched a stunner and Bryan Reynolds hit two two-run homers—the second being the three-thousandth homer hit in PNC Park—as the Pirates walloped the Red Sox 8-2.

It was clear from the start that Brubaker was in the zone, although Tyler Heineman’s return helped a bit as well (maybe he doesn’t hit, but he calls a good game), but run support, which has doomed a lot of good starts from Brubaker, was also there from the start. After a Kevin Newman single in the first, B-Rey got it done:

In the third, after Newman singled again and Reynolds also got a single. This time, Ben Gamel got them both home with a double. I’m still hesitant to hang the “Big Game Gamel” tag on him, but I always appreciate a timely hit.

In the fifth, Newman singled yet again, and this happened—again:

The three-thousandth home run in PNC, over the Clemente Wall, on what would have been Roberto’s eighty-eighth birthday—in the recent spate of games, let’s be honest, that hasn’t been too fun for Pirates fans, this was enjoyable. Reynolds seems to be out of his slump, and Newman’s got a very hot bat right now, and it was good to see Brubaker’s great effort not ultimately be wasted.

And, for the first time in a while, we can do this: