Pirates 9, Red Sox 1
Ike Davis hit a three-run homer and Francisco Liriano allowed three hits in six innings as Pittsburgh crushed visiting Boston.
Gregory Polanco and Neil Walker each added a solo home run and Clint Barmes drove in a pair of the Pirates, who have won 10 of 12. Liriano (6-10) walked five but yielded only one run in his third straight win as Pittsburgh moved 2 1/2 games clear of Milwaukee for the second National League wild card.
Clay Buchholz (8-9) was lit up for five runs – four earned – on six hits and a walk in four innings for Boston, which has totaled one run in the first two games of the series. Buchholz surrendered a long home run to Polanco in the first and let things slip away as the Pirates rallied for three runs in the second.
Barmes’ liner off the wall in left plated a pair and Josh Harrison’s single to center brought in Barmes to make it 4-0. Walker led off the third and took the first pitch from Buchholz into the third row in right for his 21st home run.
The Red Sox got on the board in the fifth when Bryce Brentz delivered a pinch-hit double for his first major-league hit before eventually coming in on Xander Bogaerts’ groundout. Pittsburgh put the game away with a four-run rally in the fifth, capped by Davis’ drive to center off knuckleballer Steven Wright.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Cuban CF Rusney Castillo made his major-league debut for the Red Sox and went 1-for-4 with an infield single. … Pirates C Russell Martin went 1-for-4 and has hit safely in nine straight games while driving in 11 runs in that span. … Pittsburgh SS Jordy Mercer missed his second straight game due to back tightness.