Boston Red Sox at Pittsburgh Pirates

It’s the dog days of summer. The weather is muggy, bodies are sore and postseason spots are officially up for grabs. The Pirates are holding on for dear life. “You've been riding the bike for this long now,” veteran Brandon Lowe said pregame. “Just hold on to the handlebars and don't fall off.” With Lowe’s help, Pittsburgh took down the Red Sox, 8-3, Sunday after a two-hour, 34-minute rain delay for its first series win since taking two of three from the Guardians on July 18-19. The Pirates jumped on left-hander Patrick Sandoval for seven runs in the first four innings, holding on to playoff hopes just a bit further into August. “We've talked a lot about it. We want to go 1-0 each day,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “How do we continue to grind and fight for that? And I thought we did a really good job in a big series win against a tough team.” As Lowe sees it, the Pirates can use being sore to their advantage. Every player around the league is at the same point in their season. So the 32-year-old Lowe broke it down as, “How can you make yourself feel good for about three hours every day?” On Sunday, the Pirates would need to do so with a break in between that was exactly as long as the game. Pittsburgh started early with three consecutive hits in the first. Esmerlyn Valdez and Bryan Reynolds both doubled to bring in the first run. Then, Lowe singled to left field to score Reynolds for a 2-0 lead. Pittsburgh deployed a new lineup to beat its woes versus lefties, slotting utility man Jared Triolo into the leadoff spot and Lowe, the only left-handed hitter, at cleanup. The top of the order added on in the third, as Triolo tallied an infield single and Valdez doubled again. Reynolds followed with a single to score Triolo, and Lowe singled to score Valdez.