Cleveland never caught up. Ja. Gonzalez's homer in the second inning put Pittsburgh in front, and the Pirates spent the rest of the night pulling away, closing out a 7-1 win at Progressive Field.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PIT | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 0 |
| CLE | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
Jared Jones was the story on the mound. Over 5.0 innings, he allowed just 3 hits and 1 run while striking out 9, working around a lone walk to keep Cleveland's lineup off balance most of the evening. He was named the game's top performer, with a line of 5.0 IP, 9 K, 1 ER standing as the foundation of the win.
The Pirates broke through in the second when Ja. Gonzalez homered to right, a 428-foot shot that also brought home Callihan, staking Pittsburgh to a 2-0 lead it would not relinquish. Cleveland answered in the third when Bazzana tripled to right, scoring Kwan to cut it to 2-1, but that was as close as the Guardians would get. Pittsburgh pulled away in the sixth, with Valdez homering to right center to score Reynolds and Gonzales following with a solo shot to right center, pushing the score to 5-1. The Pirates added on in the eighth as Lowe scored on a wild pitch by Festa and O'Hearn's sacrifice fly brought home Reynolds, rounding out the 7-1 final.
Gavin Williams took the loss for Cleveland, allowing 5 runs on 7 hits over 6.0 innings with 11 strikeouts and no walks. He kept the Pirates off the board apart from the two homers and the third-inning triple, but the damage was enough. The Guardians' bullpen covered 3.0 innings and allowed 2 runs, while Pittsburgh's relievers, Carmen Mlodzinski among them with 3.0 scoreless innings, combined for 4.0 innings without allowing a run.
Pittsburgh, winners of four straight, improved to 51-47. Cleveland, which had its one-game skid continue, fell to 51-47 as well. Williams entered the night 22 strikeouts from 500 for his career, a milestone that will have to wait after Thursday's outing.