Lowe, Flores homer to power the Pirates over the slumping Red Sox, 8-4

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Brandon Lowe hit a three-run home run and rookie Rafael Flores Jr. homered for the third time in two days to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.

Lowe’s homer came in the fifth inning off Jovani Moran and landed in the right-field stands, extending the Pirates’ lead to 7-2 as they won back-to-back games for the first time since July 26-27. Flores hit a solo shot off Jake Bennett (7-6) in the second to open the scoring after connecting twice Thursday in a 13-1 victory at Miami.

Rookie Esmerlyn Valdez hit a two-run double in the third and scored on a single by Flores to make it 4-0. Lowe had three hits and Bryan Reynolds added two.

The Red Sox lost for the sixth time in seven games after winning 28 of 36. They had runners on first and second with two outs in the ninth, but Mason Montgomery escaped the jam for his third save.

Rookie Bubba Chandler (6-8) won his third straight start, allowing two runs and four hits in five innings with five strikeouts and two walks. Bennett gave up four runs over four innings while losing for the fourth time in four starts.

Nick Sogard drove in two runs for the Red Sox.

Pirates third baseman Nick Gonzales was struck on the helmet by a pitch from Moran in the fifth inning and left the game. Gonzales, who entered the day third in the NL in hitting, sustained a facial contusion and was replaced by pinch-runner Jacob Gonzalez.

The Pirates said Gonzales is day-to-day. The 27-year-old went 0 for 2, dropping his batting average to .307 in 118 games. He also has six home runs and a career-high 53 RBIs.

Red Sox RHP Sonny Gray (14-3, 2.79 ERA) was set to oppose RHP Jared Jones (2-4, 5.03) on Saturday night.

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