Connor Wong, left, celebrates with Wilyer Abreu after they scored on a single by Reese McGuire during Boston’s 6-1 win Sunday against Pittsburgh Pirates. Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press
PITTSBURGH — Wilyer Abreu had three hits and drove in two runs and the Boston Red Sox beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.
Abreu’s RBI single off Martín Pérez (1-1) in the third inning gave the Red Sox the lead for good. He added another RBI single in the sixth as Boston continued its strong play away from Fenway Park.
Reese McGuire added a pinch-hit two-run single for the Red Sox, who improved to 10-3 on the road. Justin Slaten (1-0) worked two scoreless innings in relief to earn the victory as Boston’s road ERA dropped to 1.45 despite numerous injuries to its pitching staff.
Boston bounced back after a bumpy homestand by keeping the Pirates in check yet again. Justin Slaten (1-0) worked two scoreless innings in relief to earn the victory.
Perhaps just as importantly, Boston found a way to take care of the Pirates without first baseman Triston Casas, third baseman Rafael Devers and outfielder Tyler O’Neill. Casas and O’Neill are on the injured list, and Devers didn’t play in the series while nursing a bone bruise in his knee, forcing the Red Sox to rely even more on players such as the 24-year-old Abreu.
Asked how his team has responded despite having so many key players unavailable, Manager Alex Cora just shrugged.
“Youth, to be honest with you,” he said. “They don’t know any better. Some of them, you know, they just show up every day, willing to work.”
Ke’Bryan Hayes had two of Pittsburgh’s seven hits and drove in the Pirates’ only run with a first-inning sacrifice fly. Pittsburgh has dropped six straight to fall to .500 (11-11) for the first time this season.
“It was a sloppy game,” Pirates Manager Derek Shelton said. “We didn’t play well. You can point out multiple things that we need to clean up. In certain situations, guys are trying to do a little too much. In certain situations, we just played sloppy.”
The Pirates have scored just nine runs during their slide and did little against five Red Sox pitchers. Pittsburgh didn’t help itself with a couple of base-running mistakes to take away scoring opportunities. Hayes and Jack Suwinski were both thrown out at second – Hayes in the fourth, Suwinski in the sixth – trying to grab an extra base in hopes of sparking a struggling offense.
Pérez, labored through four-plus innings. The veteran left-hander, who had been sharp in his first four starts with the Pirates, gave up four runs in four-plus innings, with four walks and seven strikeouts. Pérez left in the fifth after Abreu led off with a double and Connor Wong walked.
Pittsburgh reliever Ryder Ryan came on and gave up a flare to center by McGuire that made it 4-1, more than enough considering Pittsburgh’s current issues at the plate.
Boston’s Josh Winckowski, a reliever these days, made his first start since last August and just his second since the end of the 2022 season. The right-hander worked 3 1/3 innings, giving up one run and three hits with a strikeout before being removed after 46 pitches.
Winckowski is optimistic that what the starting pitchers have done without Lucas Giolito (elbow surgery) is sustainable. Nick Pivetta and Garrett Whitlock are also on the injured list.
“People are saying we need help in the rotation and the rotation (stinks) and whatnot,” Winckowski said. “So really happy for all the guys to be proving everyone wrong.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
First baseman Triston Casas was placed on the 10-day injured list because of a left rib strain, and Boston called up catcher Tyler Heineman from Triple-A Worcester.
Casas, who had initial imaging done in Pittsburgh after leaving Saturday’s game, will see a specialist and undergo an MRI in Boston on Monday. Manager Alex Cora acknowledged that Casas could be sidelined for a lengthy period of time.
“I’m concerned,” Cora said. “The way he felt … this guy, he grinds. Triston, he plays. For him to come out of the game, yeah, I’m concerned.”
Casas said he first felt some discomfort in his midsection throughout Boston’s home series against the Guardians last week. In the first inning Saturday, on a 3-1 swing against righty Mitch Keller, Casas aggravated the area and realized he couldn’t play any longer.
A downtrodden Casas said he didn’t know how long he’d be out.
“I’m in a lot of pain right now … I felt like I could still put together competitive at-bats with a little pain in my midsection, but yesterday, it just escalated to something I couldn’t continue dealing with any longer,” Casas said. “I had to pull the plug right there.”
Casas’ initial CT scan didn’t reveal a broken bone but didn’t provide many answers on the exact injury he’s battling.
“I didn’t feel any pop or dislocation,” he said. “I have discomfort when I breathe right now, which could be my lung touching the rib. I did a CT scan and my lungs are intact, but they couldn’t tell anything with the inner linings of the bone and they couldn’t see anything that’s chipped. I don’t think it’s a break in the rib. I don’t know which is the best-case scenario … Hopefully, it’s not something that’s prolonged throughout the majority of the season.”
In Casas’ absence, the Red Sox plan to use Pablo Reyes and Bobby Dalbec at first base.
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