BOSTON — Should this incredible run continue, Bryan Reynolds may opt out of the flight home.
Meanwhile, in taking the first two games of this series with a 4-1 victory against the Red Sox on Tuesday at Fenway Park, the Pirates also enjoyed what was by far the best pitching performance of the young season: 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball from Roansy Contreras, who walked one, struck out two and pounded the strike zone.
If that wasn’t enough, the Pirates (3-2) made this one stand up with some impressive late-inning work. Dauri Moreta and Jose Hernandez stepping up, sure. But more noticeably a ridiculous catch in left-center field from Ji Hwan Bae, who fearlessly crashed into the wall to rob third baseman Rafael Devers.
In addition to creating a collective groan among the 28,842 here, it helped preserve the win for the Pirates and Contreras, who was a bit of a wild card entering this season after he spent part of spring training away from the club while pitching for his native Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.
While the Pirates flew to Cincinnati for a workout and three games last week, Contreras remained in Florida and made one more start there. Manager Derek Shelton said Contreras would be on a pitch count and wouldn’t be fully built up, but what he did against the Red Sox was pretty darn efficient.
Contreras may have escaped the sixth, too; however, he encountered some trouble the third time through Boston’s order. After walking designated hitter Justin Turner, Oneil Cruz made his first error of the season, prompting Shelton to swap Contreras for Moreta.
Moreta did the job and stranded two by striking out center fielder Adam Duvall in the sixth.
There’s simply no stopping Reynolds right now. A night after recording the fourth multi-homer game of his career Monday, including his second in a row against Boston, his third-inning blast gave him homers in three straight for the first time in his career.
It came on a first-pitch curveball from Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta, an offering Reynolds ripped at 100.3 mph over the fence in right-center. It gave Reynolds an MLB-high four on the season.
Furthermore, Reynolds has tied Reggie Sanders (2003) and Willie Stargell (1971) for the franchise record when it comes to homers through the first five games.
Think the Red Sox will be happy to see Reynolds go? He has a homer in four straight games against them, and he’s 11 for his last 17 (.647) against them, with seven extra-base hits and 10 RBIs.
ON THE MOUND
It looked like it might be a difficult start for Contreras, as two of the first three batters — right fielder Alex Verdugo and Turner — collected singles. Boston jumped in front, 1-0, when left fielder Masataka Yoshida hit a bouncer to second base.
After that, , though, Contreras found a groove that resulted in a stretch of 13 consecutive batters retired, carrying Contreras into the fifth. Catcher Reese McGuire doubled, but it turned out to be a non-issue, as another former Pirate, Yu Chang, hit a one-hopper to third that Ke’Bryan Hayes had no problem handling.
That wasn’t the only strong relief performance. Hernandez notched his first MLB strikeout in an important situation: with a runner on second in the seventh inning, picking up a borderline call from home-plate umpire Dan Iassogna.
AT THE PLATE
Aside from Reynolds, Bae actually got things started with his first MLB home run, an opposite-field shot that barely cleared the Green Monster. It came on a 1-1 fastball and vaulted Bae into some unique company.
He and Atlanta’s Vaughn Grissom — who did it Aug. 10, 2022 — are the only two National League players to hit their first career home runs at Fenway, which opened in 1912.
Setting aside the home run, the evolution of Bae has been fascinating to watch. When he tries to go the other way, Bae has been really good. He doesn’t even need to swing for power. But he tends to get himself into trouble when he tries to pull the ball.
In any case, as Rodolfo Castro has struggled out of the gate and manager Derek Shelton seems fine with a platoon situation in the outfield, Bae has done a few different things that have forced people to pay attention.
None bigger than his late-game catch, an instant highlight.
UP NEXT
Mitch Keller will start the series finale Wednesday afternoon. He’s 1-6 with a 4.55 ERA in 12 career starts during interleague play.
