The Boston Red Sox secured their fifth win over the last six games by taking down the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-3, on Wednesday night at PNC Park.
The Red Sox have returned to the .500 mark with a 59-59 record while the lowly Pirates dropped to 45-72.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Rich Hill certainly deserves credit for how he performed after not pitching in over a week. Hill allowed two runs after the first two batters he faced, but settled down to stifle the Pirates from there on.
Hill wasn't the only story regarding Boston's superb pitching on the night, which held Pittsburgh to six hits -- half of which came in the ninth inning off of Jeurys Familia, who struggled in his Red Sox debut.
A couple of members of the bullpen starred as well with Ryan Brasier mowing the Pirates down in the sixth inning by striking out the side in order while Hirokazu Sawamura tossed two scoreless frames without yielding a hit.
Red Sox pitching hasn't allowed more than three runs in a game since facing the Atlanta Braves last week, and it's been the catalyst for them stringing wins together.
STARS OF THE GAME
-- Hill, who got his first start since Aug. 8, completely shook off allowing a two-run homer to Bryan Reynolds in the bottom of the first. Hill then retired 12 straight batters and finished allowing the two runs on three hits with four strikeouts and no walks in five innings.
-- Alex Verdugo was constantly on base, going 3-for-3 out of the cleanup spot with two walks and one RBI. Verdugo also scored two runs.
-- Christian Arroyo's hot streak just doesn't seem to end. He went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, including a key two-run double into the right-center gap in the top of the second.
WAGER WATCH
Hill hadn't registered a win since June 26, and it's always risky betting that he'll notch one since the 42-year-old lefty usually doesn't work that deep into games. DraftKings Sportsbook set the odds of Hill recording a win at +185, and with Hill doing so, a $100 bet would have netted $285 total.
ON DECK AT NESN
The Red Sox will look to complete the series sweep of the Pirates on Thursday. First pitch from PNC Park is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, with NESN 360.
