Leon's walk-off homer in 12th lifts Red Sox past Pirates
BOSTON -- Sandy Leon hit a walk-off, three-run homer with one out in the 12th inning as Boston beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0 in Chris Sale's Red Sox debut Wednesday night at Fenway Park.
Leon launched an 0-1 fastball off Pirates reliever Anthony Bastardo (0-1) into the Green Monster seats in left field. It was his first career game-winning RBI.
Jackie Bradley Jr. walked and stole second before Pablo Sandoval worked a walk to bring up Leon.
Sale, acquired from the Chicago White Sox last December in the blockbuster deal of the offseason, was unable to get the win but looked sharp for Boston (2-0).
The five-time All-Star southpaw struck out seven while permitting just three hits and a walk over seven scoreless innings. The Pirates didn't have runner past first the entire night.
Sale received a standing ovation on his walk back to the dugout after the top of the seventh.
Joe Kelly (1-0) earned the win with two scoreless innings.
Dustin Pedroia was 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout and played his 1,400th career game, breaking a tie with Dom DiMaggio to move into sole possession of 11th place on the Red Sox's all-time games played list.
Sandoval, playing his 1,000th career game, was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Jameson Taillon nearly matched Sale pitch for pitch in his season debut for the Pirates (0-2), giving up five hits and walking three while fanning six over seven scoreless innings.
Missed opportunities were the story of the night for Boston.
Singles by Bradley and Leon and a walk for Dustin Pedroia loaded the bases with two outs in the 10th for Andrew Benintendi.
Benintendi, who hit a three-run homer in the Red Sox's 5-3 win Monday on Opening Day, could only muster an inning-ending groundout to second this time around.
Several scoring chances were also squandered by the Red Sox in the middle innings.
Leon was thrown out easily at the plate to end the third inning after blowing through a stop sign rounding third on Pedroia's two-out single to right.
Mitch Moreland teased a homer on a deep fly to right with a runner on and two outs in the fourth, but Andrew McCutchen made the catch against the wall on the warning track.
Boston's best chance to break through came in the fifth, however, as they put runners on the corners with nobody out.
But Taillon impressively escaped the jam by getting Sandoval and Leon to strike out swinging and forcing Pedroia to hit a dribbler back to the mound.
NOTES: Boston RF Mookie Betts and OF/INF Brock Holt were out with flu-like symptoms. LHP Robbie Ross is dealing with similar symptoms and was a game-time decision. "It's been popping up all spring training. ... (We) quarantined a number of different players, but it's hanging around (the clubhouse)," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. OF Chris Young started in right field. ... Red Sox LHP David Price (left elbow strain) threw 25 pitches off a mound for the first time since his injury on Wednesday and will travel to Detroit. ... Pittsburgh's Opening Day payroll ($94.6 million) ranked 23rd out of 30 major league teams, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. ... Pirates RF Andrew McCutchen homered off Red Sox LHP Chris Sale in high school and singled against him in the 2012 MLB All-Star Game, but had never faced him in regular-season play before Wednesday. ... Pirates RHP Chad Kuhl opposes Red Sox LHP Eduardo Rodriguez on Thursday.