*Photo from Over the Monster*
What a way to get back to form. Ceddanne Rafaela drove in two runs, Rob Refsnyder homered, and the Boston Red Sox rolled over the Pittsburgh Pirates with an 8-1 victory on Friday night in Pittsburgh.
After going 3-7 in their first homestand, the Red Sox found success on the road once again. They improved to 8-3 on the road with the win. The offense had a banner day at the plate, with 4 hitters going deep and 3 having two RBI games.
Wilyer Abreu gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the top of the first with a solo home run to right field. Triston Casas hit a solo shot of his own not long after, doubling the lead to 2-0. In the second inning, Bobby Dalbec scored on a groundout to make it a 3-0 game. In the 5th, Refsnyder bashed a two run home run to right center field to make it 5-0.
Rafaela continued to make it a runaway win for the Red Sox in the 6th, hitting a solo home run to left field to make it 6-0. With the bases loaded in the 7th, Enmanuel Valdez doubled to right field, scoring Refsnyder and Masataka Yoshida to make it 8-0 Red Sox. In the bottom of the 9th, Edward Olivares ended the shutout bid as he drove in a run with a groundout.
Getting the start for the Red Sox was Brayan Bello, who earned his 3rd win of the season, allowing just one hit while striking out 7 hitters in 6 innings pitched. Chase Anderson came on and pitched two scoreless innings before Cam Booser worked the 9th to seal the win in his major league debut.
Boston manager Alex Cora said of Bello's start that "He was amazing. He knew what he wanted to do. His velocity was up, too. It was 96. He was able to use his changeup a lot, but at the same time, keep them honest with the fastball."
Quinn Priester was called up from Triple A to start for the Pirates. He got tagged for 5 runs, 4 earned, in 4 1/3 innings. Josh Fleming finished the 5th inning before Roansy Contreras gave up 3 runs in two innings pitched. Hunter Stratton followed that with two scoreless innings.
Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said of Priester's start that "It's very simple. If you put the ball on the plate and you're in positive counts, you have the ability to execute pitches and expand the zone. When you're behind in the count, you have to come on the plate. In the big leagues when you come on the plate, you're gonna get hit, and that's what happened today."
The series continues Saturday afternoon. The Red Sox look to secure the series win as Kutter Crawford takes the mound, while the Pirates start Mitch Keller trying to tie the series at a game apiece.
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